DevO

It's tonight. Will report back.

Crazy Strings!

I hadn't even heard about this until just now when I picked up this week's NOW. Not sure if this show was part of the season's lineup for Koerner Hall when it came out. Maybe it did. Anyways, sure would be a great venue to see him play. http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/story.cfm?content=177814 All killer, no filler Jazz rock genius John McLaughlin keeps it short and sweet By Benjamin Boles When lightning-fast guitar shredding is experiencing a revival by indie buzz acts like Marnie Stern and PS I Love You, the timing’s good for legendary jazz rock guitar god John McLaughlin to crank up his amp and show the kids how to wail like Coltrane. After spending much of the 90s exploring world music and acoustic instrumentation, the 68-year-old virtuoso has rediscovered the blazing electric flavours he was famous for from his days with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and on Miles Davis’s psychedelic-fusion records. “Electric guitar is my love,†says a cheerful, talkative McLaughlin, “and I’ll be playing it until I fall down and I’m not able to play it any more.†Looking at the tour schedule in support of his latest album, To The One (Abstract Logix), you might get the impression that he lives to be on the road. But it turns out his busy schedule reveals a love for the guitar rather than an addiction to touring. “I just love to play, and that’s the beginning and end of it. Touring North America is not easy. Already our fees are down substantially because of the economic crisis. We’re definitely not doing it for the money. We’re not even here to sell records, because the idea of touring to promote an album is over. We basically play out of love, and hope we don’t lose money.†That doesn’t mean he’s pissed off at the iPod for destroying the record industry. Quite the opposite – McLaughlin’s a big fan of the technology and happy to have escaped the major label machine. For one thing, nobody’s pressuring him to pad his albums with filler. “We don’t really sell records any more, but when I was with the major labels, they’d always complain if the album wasn’t long enough. To me, it’s about quality, not quantity. Why are you counting the minutes? You wouldn’t tell a painter that he needs to fill up a 3-by-3-foot canvas every time. “ Like everyone else, I used to have to deal with the record companies’ coercive techniques. Luckily, I don’t have to worry about those considerations any more.â€

Helix was changed to the Thursday (Nov 25th) - a free show downtown as part of the street festival and then a club show at a place called McCaffrey’s.. I am all over that one, it is my destiny! For the curious onlookers - check out the lineup of the StreetFest: http://www.greycupfestival2010.com/star-studded-line-up-set-for-sirius-satellite-radio-stage-on-telus-streetfest/ Bassnectar would be fun to see but I imagine we will be busy slammin back draft beer between slices of backbacon at the 'Spirit of Edmonton' party the night before Cup! Edit: Definitely Big Sugar too! Last time I saw them was at the arena in Baysville in 1997.

See you there my friend!

How you FEELIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!! I'll go! Thanks Jambands.Ca.

I am interested in this device and will gladly throw my name in the hat! The cell phone I have now is old and in the way.

Check out a few blogs like this one and scan through the reviews section for ideas on new releases I say: http://radiofreecanuckistan.blogspot.com/ PS - anyone got an invite for an old chap?

I put Adrian Popovich... Not 100% sure that is the answer though!

Just came across a contest to win a Gretsch 5120 Electromatic guitar. Wouldn't that be nice! http://exclaim.ca/Contests/big_john_bates_vs_white_cowbell_oklahoma Why am I telling you all about this??

From The Sadies' FB fan page news thinger: 35 Years After “The Last Waltz,†Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band! In Stores November 16, 2010 After 10 studio albums, inductions into the Grammy® Hall of Fame, JUNO Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and 35 years after their epic farewell concert, “The Last Waltz,†The Band’s Garth Hudson (Keyboards and Saxophone) brings us Garth Hudson Presents A Canadian Celebration of The Band, with partial proceeds to support The Hospital for Sick Children. In this first ever solely Canadian recording of The Band’s songs, original band member Garth Hudson enlisted Canadian musicians Blue Rodeo, Bruce Cockburn, Great Big Sea, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida, Mary Margaret O’Hara, The Sadies and Neil Young, among others, to create this historic album. “It was very organic how the artists and songs matched up so perfectly. I had aural visions of how each song could be enhanced by the talent of each artist … each voice, instrument, and spirit.†– Garth Hudson This is the first time any collection of The Band songs has been curated and produced by an original member of the group. Rarities beginning with The Basement Tapes on through latter-day albums Jericho and High on the Hog are again new. “These songs were among the most enjoyable to me while The Band was together because of the words, or the story, or humour … an example of all three is the reading of “Clothes Line Saga†written by Bob Dylan and sung by Margo Timmins with Cowboy Junkies. Each of these songs stands on its own, yet they mystically sequence together as a string of jewels.†– Garth Hudson Produced and performed by Garth Hudson with Grammy® award-winning co-producer and engineer Peter J. Moore at his side. GARTH HUDSON plays keyboards on all tracks along with the following artists: 1. Forbidden Fruit – Danny Brooks & The Rockin’ Revelators 2. Out Of The Blue – Mary Margret O’Hara 3. Acadian Driftwood – Peter Katz & The Curious 4. This Wheel’s On Fire – Neil Young and The Sadies 5. Ain’t Got No Home – Suzie McNeil 6. Clothes Line Saga - Cowboy Junkies 7. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere - Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle 8. Sleeping - Bruce Cockburn & Blue Rodeo 9. Yazoo Street Scandal - The Road Hammers 10. The Moon Struck One – Raine Maida 11. The Shape I’m In - The Sadies 12. Tears Of Rage – Chantal Kreviazuk 13. I Loved You Too Much – Hawskley Workman 14. Knockin’ Lost John - Great Big Sea 15. King Harvest - Blue Rodeo 16. Move To Japan – The Trews 17. Genetic Method (Anew) – Garth Hudson 18. Chest Fever – Ian Thornley & Bruce Cockburn Raine Maida commented: “It is an honour to be a part of this record. Garth is without question a living legend and the opportunity to record "Moon Struck One" live off the floor with an artist of his genius will be an experience I treasure always.†The Band’s original ensemble consisted of Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm from Arkansas. The Band began as The Hawks with Ronnie Hawkins, then Levon & The Hawks, and officially becoming The Band in 1968 and performing together until 1976 … with their last concert documented in the Martin Scorsese film “The Last Waltz.†They reunited from 1983-1999. The Band continues to be one of rock’s most influential and enduring groups. Now there are members who have passed and three founding members continue on with their individual lives and projects. Here is one project that is especially personal to one charter member … an intimate project Garth Hudson wanted to share with his country in an all-Canadian celebration of his life in The Band with the songs he enjoyed most. www.garthhudson.com http://theband.hiof.no/ www.curvemusic.com www.sickkidsfoundation.com

Guigs I think I was there for every one of the things you mentioned except for the Little League Championships. I played there once too! (High school flag football). Too bad the Cats lost on Friday. No bad consequences really, but we were on a roll. This weekend I came home to my parents' house to find a giant 3.5' x 4' flashing blue neon light ARGOS SUCK sign, I shit you not! Apparently my brother bought it on eBay from a closed down Tailgate Charlies restaurant. Oh and THE CATCH will never be forgotten.

Everest is a good band too, if it is the same one I'm thinking of. Folk Implosion minus Lou Barlow. Enjoy!

Happy birthday Sharon!

Will you be out in Edmonton during Grey Cup? I see The Trews are playing the official after-party.

I've been a Cats fan for a long time but hadn't had seasons tickets for over 10 years - until this year, I won a pair at a stag! That and living within an hour of Hamilton for the first time in a number of years has brought me back onboard. It will be a sad day when Ivor Wynne Stadium shuts its doors in a few years! Sounds like some good memories Sloth. I never saw a game at Lansdowne but have always wondered why Row 1 (on the South side I think?) starts about about 30 feet above the ground. Did they have temporary fold-out seats for game day?

This will be my first Cup outside of Toronto - having gone to the one in Hamilton (1998?) and in Toronto about 3 years ago. From what I gather, Saskatchewan, Edmonton or Winnipeg are the finest hosts of Grey Cups so I am very pumped for this. It doesn't hurt that the Cats are currently on fire and could actually make it. Come on down Harto! I'll be meeting up with my brother and his gang (who run this site), it will be their 19th Cup in a row. B&T of BTO are playing the half time show. :doh: I'm a bit out of the loop but how far is Ottawa towards getting a team back? Isn't that a big part of the restructuring at Lansdowne Park?

Very nice diplomacy, Punk! Well within the next 5 years or so, you could be seeing a team in Moncton. The game that they had there this year was a big success. I am heading out to Edmonton for Grey Cup this year and wanted to see if anyone else on here would share or comprehend my excitement. And the icing on the cake is that Helix are playing in town on the night of my arrival!

Just curious to know if there are any CFL fans other than myself on this board? *ducks head for the obligatory "cfl sucks dood" comments*

Lovin the tour blogs.. I enjoyed the show last week at the Piston too!

Cut Chemist, Sound of the Police A decent DJ set is, at the very minimum, an exhibition of quality mixing skills put to work on a deep record collection. A good set builds momentum, orchestrates an extended rhythmic narrative, and throws together a couple of surprising juxtapositions along the way. But the great mixes are the ones that do all of that while making some greater statement about all the work they collect together. When Cut Chemist was tapped to create a DJ set in opening for Ethiopian jazz icon Mulatu Astatke back in 2009, he took the opportunity to delve into the sources, influences, and echoes of the Ethio-jazz scene that Astatke and others developed in the 1960s and 70s. Sound of the Police-- named for the tendency for many Ethio-jazz recordings to originate from military bands-- does a lot to contextualize that musical terrain for hip-hop heads who might not have delved too deep into its shared roots. This mix runs on an interesting setup: Sound of the Police was assembled and recorded in real time on an unusual one-turntable rig, with a loop pedal and mixer taking the place of a second deck for transition-building purposes. (Think a stripped-down, single-turntable equivalent of Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow's 8-deck Hard Sell setup.) It's a deft highwire act, and it allows him to pull off some agile scratching, sonic layering, and self-overdubbing with original, unearthed vinyl records he likely couldn't find a second copy of. In other words, it has all the careful, hands-on, as-it-happens nature of a DJ mix combined with the loop-constructing composition of a beat tape-- and it's a pretty impressive technical achievement in that sense. That structure's well-served by a wide itinerary of the African musical diaspora. And while this mix's tendency to work the slow build means it lacks the frenetic, quick-cut energy of similar-minded beat tapes like Oh No's Dr. No's Ethiopium or Madlib's Beat Konducta in Africa, it does have a continent-hopping nature that branches out into longer threads of shared stylistic heritage and blurs lines in a telling way. Heavy as it is on the fluttering horns, glassy guitars, and dense percussion that denotes a certain era of East African music-- think Buda Musique's excellent, exhaustive Ethiopiques series-- it frequently pits it in a free-flowing conversation with Nigerian Afrobeat, Cuban percussion, Brazilian Tropicália, and that deathless old-school b-boy break, the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache". That these musical cultural identities flow in and out of each other so freely is what gives Sound of the Police much of its resonance: The evolution of beat music across borders draws distinctions between eras and regions, but they're far from insurmountable. The lack of a full-credit tracklisting only highlights that: You might catch a moment of organ-heavy garage-funk or sax-driven, Middle Eastern-inflected melodies and find yourself unsure as to what that sound's geographical ties might be. And while not actually knowing the source might feel like the side effect of the old DJ tradition of never revealing where your breaks come from, it also gives this mix a purpose: Sometimes when you don't know the origin of a piece of music, you have no preconceptions to grab onto and you gravitate instead toward the things you most immediately recognize as familiar. Sound of the Police acknowledges its roots, but the common language of the beat is what truly drives it. — Nate Patrin, October 12, 2010 (Pitchfork)

Beauty setlist on the 14 year anniversary of my first show! Where did this show happen (last night's)?

Comment enjoyed! har!

Here's what I'd recommend for tonight: The Weakerthans' exhaustive cross-Canada tour of 2009, with twenty-five shows spanning from St. John's to Whitehorse, is documented (in HD) in a new concert and tour film, We're The Weakerthans, We're From Winnipeg. For this one-night-only screening, not only will director Caelum Vatnsdal be in attendance to answer questions after the film, but Weakerthans lead singer John K. Samson will play a short solo set at 9:30 p.m. to start the night off. The Royal Cinema (608 College Street), 9:30 p.m., $18 ($15 in advance at the Images Festival website or Soundscapes). PS - I miss Sisters Euclid Mondays.