[...music...]: 2007-11

2007-11-24

i met up with manna today, and we eventually wound up at hmv megastore. inevitably, i ended up making a purchase, as this is the season where all the stores are trying to get us to spend (i hate this, yet i still fall for it). hm... buying unnecessary items one day after "buy nothing day"? shame on me.

neverending white lights - act i: goodbye friends of the heavenly bodies
i had wanted to get this a couple of weeks ago, along with "act ii"; but this first album was part of a 2/$25 deal, and i had nothing to pair it up with, at that time. feeling a little incomplete, i finally got it today. now that winter has officially arrived, along with the snow and the cold, i find this album quite fitting. there is something cold about this music.

manu chao - la radiolina
i got this as part of the 2/$25 deal. i heard the album once, i remember really liking the song "rainin in paradize". and i don't have anything like this, so it will add some diversity in to collection. listening to it right now, i feel like dancing alone, like a dork, in my room... this is warm music, perfect to cheer me up from gloomy winter days. (with the arrival of winter, this is a good time to break out the ska and the like, i think.)

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, manu chao, neverending white lights

2007-11-20

r3m1x3d

another week, another cd purchase.

this time, i got nine inch nails' "year zero remixed" (or "y34rz3r0r3m1x3d"). although "year zero" was not a particularly amazing album, i still love listening to remixes.

on this album, the kronos quartet track "another version of the truth" is my favourite. it's kind of obvious; i like music with stringed instruments.

included with the album is a dvd-rom, with multitracks of the songs, and an application for manipulating them. i'll have to try it later to see what the deal is.

also, remix.nin.com was to be some forum for fans to share their remixes, which would have been an interesting site. however, they seem to be going through some legal toubles right now. we'll see how that plays out.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, nine inch nails

2007-11-13

commercial stuff

thanks to good friend and music buddy roxanne, who got me a hmv gift card for my birthday. it is exactly the kind of gift that i like!

of course, i cannot keep it in my wallet for long, so i went to the store to check out the new releases today. while browsing the shelves, i was distracted by all the spice girls songs they were blasting in the store; ugh, (bad) memories from high school. i was a bit confused by some of the new releases: spice girls? backstreet boys? wtf?! are we back in 1998?

the other new releases this week were not of interest to me. so i got some older albums. radio-friendly rock music. i just want some easy stuff to listen to. i am getting 'old'.

brand new - deja entendu
yes, i know, there are countless, undistinguishable, generic emo-pop-punk bands out there. but for some reason, this album stands out to me. i admit, it is because of that "sic transit gloria" song. is this a guilty pleasure? not really. there are a few emo-pop-punk bands among the masses that i actually enjoy quite a lot. brand new is one of them.

neverending white lights - act ii: the blood and the life eternal
i got this on a whim. i saw it at the store, remembered his song "the grace" - a nice song, featuring vocals by dallas green - from a few years ago, and thought "ah? new material? let's see who's contributing this time..." i like that he finds different vocalists for each of his songs. seeing a current cast that includes jimmy gnecco, auf der maur, rob dickinson, and hawksley workman (!), i knew i must get this cd.

nine inch nails - things falling apart
"the fragile" is probably my favourite nin album. i have no idea why it took me so long to get this remix album. anyway, i got it today; i will be listening to this all week.

~~~

Labels: brand new, cd purchase, neverending white lights, nine inch nails

2007-11-04

múm @ le national

i went to the show with roxanne.

first opener was tom brosseau. it was his birthday!

second opening act was hauschka. one man on a piano, with some additional sounds. it was nice.

múm's music was lovely, an assortment of sounds. i did not recognise any of the songs, but i still had a good time, enjoying the pretty music.

~~~

cd purchases: i got múm's most recent "go go smear the poison ivy" that i had not heard yet. i also liked hauschka's set enough to get his "the prepared piano".

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, hauschka, le national, múm, shows, tom brosseau

2007-11-03

the weakerthans @ le national

jenn grant was the opening act. mostly folksy-type stuff, mixed with other things. it was alright, but not what i usually listen to.

i must admit, i don't find the weakerthans particularly amazing live. in fact, i find their live set a bit predictable, in the sense that they play the songs almost exactly like on disc. but i love their songs so much. their music is pretty straightforward, with no surprises. i guess that's what i like about them; there's no pretension, they are not trying to be anything more than they are. and the lyrics are so witty and clever; every song is a mini-story.

although they are not the best live band, i still try to see their show whenever they come to montreal.

my memory gets worst... i think they played these songs, grouped by album.

from "left and leaving":
- aside (my favourite song of theirs)
- left and leaving

from "reconstruction site":
- the reasons
- reconstruction site
- our retired explorer
- time's arrow

from "reunion tour":
- civil twilight
- relative surplus value
- tournament of hearts
- sun in an empty room
- night windows

they ended their proper set with "plea from a cat named virtute", with kind of a messy noise at the outro.

the singer came back for an encore, starting with a solo performance of "one great city!" and "my favourite chords", which was predictable; i think they did the same the last time i saw them, some years ago. then, the full band returned for the remaining songs. "confessions of a futon-revolutionist", that i did not recognize at the time, but found out after going through the "fallow" album at home just now. then, there was "pamphleteer" and "virtute the cat explains her departure" (i love that the cat returns on the new album).

the second encore began with a cover song. it sounded familiar, but i didn't know what it was. (some googling tells me it was replacements' "swinging party"). then, they played "watermark" (another favourite of mine).

i think this is the first time i see this; they came back for a third encore. but they kept it short: just one song, "everything must go!". it was a great way to end the night.

~~~

Labels: jenn grant, le national, shows, the weakerthans