[...music...]: 2010-06

2010-06-25

on tuesday this week, i went to the ted leo show at il motore, as part of the suoni per il popolo festival. it was my second time in that venue, my fourth time seeing that band.

the opening band was screaming females, from new brunswick, new jersey. wow, that vocalist can really yell! they were alright. i feel like standard indie rock stuff doesn't impress me so much anymore.

the space in front of the stage quickly filled up for ted leo's set. i never realized how scarily skinny the dude is. the band had good energy. stage banter was so-so; i know he's done better. at least, he got to practice his french. i must say, the sound was not great; the guitars were so loud that they drowned out the vocals throughout the set. it was disappointing in that aspect.

but i was quite happy about the mix of old and new songs. when i realized how many old hits they were playing, i was hoping they would play "timorous me" from one of their really early albums. but they didn't during their regular set. still, i had a good time, especially during the older favourites, such as "where have all the rudeboys gone?", "me and mia", and "counting down the hours".

so my memory is quite poor. here are the tracks i remember:

from "the tyranny of distance" (2001):
- dial up

from "the hearts of oak" (2003):
- where have all the rudeboys gone?

from "shake the sheets" (2004):
- me and mia
- counting down the hours

from "living with the living" (2007):
- ???

from "the brutalist bricks" (2010):
- the mighty sparrow
- even heroes have to die
- bottled in cork
- one polaroid a day
- where was my brain?

for the encore, ted leo returned to the stage solo, wearing a t-shirt with "happy 400th, quebec". haha, cool. he played a new song, then a cover. finally, he played "timorous me" and the band joined in. best way to finish! exactly as i had hoped for.

~~~

Labels: il motore, shows, ted leo

2010-06-17

scandinavia

yesterday, while procrastinating from school work, i browsed the new releases at hmv.ca. ah, so robyn has released her new mini-album "body talk pt.1". i checked out the songs online. sounds like pop goodness.

i went to the megastore after school to pick it up. they've recently changed the store layout: all the punk/metal/electro sections have been moved upstairs, next to the classical/jazz sections. before leaving the store, i decided on a quick stroll upstairs, out of curiosity. it was deserted; i was the only customer there, with one employee behind the counter.

while browsing, an interesting song was playing in the store. i asked the employee what it was; she said "trentemøller". what? "it's his new album," she explained.

she showed me where the release was located (in the electro section), and told me i could sample it at the listening booth. she even suggested his debut release as her personal favourite. i sampled a few tracks from the new album "into the great wide yonder". i was sold.

i am listening to the trentemøller album now. it's layered, atmospheric electro with some interesting sounds. the soundtrack to an experimental dark film, perhaps. new discoveries with multiple listens. i am liking it so much more on second listen already.

i found out that the track playing at the store was "shades of marble":

i can't tell what my favourite track is, because each one conveys such a different mood. this is definitely the type of music to be listened to with quality headphones.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, robyn, trentemøller

reissues

on tuesday of last week, i had lunch with cousin e. at one point, it started to hail; very unusual weather for june. surprisingly, after our meal, the weather became beautiful again, so we ended up walking aorund downtown. we visited hmv megastore since it was new release day.

i wanted to get the reissue of the cure's "disintegration". when we got to the store, i found out about a reissue of refused's "the shape of punk to come".

ah, the memories, with that refused release. back in cegep, i watched "the wedge" on muchmusic every week. for some reason, they played the "new noise" video every week or so, to the point that i got sick of it.

listening to the album now, more than a decade after its original release, it still sounds amazing. it's not a typical punk/hardcore album; the sounds are varied, unpredictable, with little surprises here and there. and the songs flow so well. definitely an album to be listened to as a whole.

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, refused, the cure

2010-06-14

lamy al-star coffee

on the same afternoon in paris, we walked around in the side streets off of les champs-élysées. we happened into some random stationery store, dupré. that's where i saw the lamy al-star in a new colour: coffee!

i knew i had to get it, especially since it came to cheaper than back home, even with the eur-cad exchange rate.

now, my collection consists of some pretty serious/sad colours...

i've already filled it with some new ink that i had sitting around: j. herbin rouge bourgogne, which turned out to be a dark pink-ish colour. pretty.

~~~

Labels: other

virgin megastore champs-élysées

from may 3rd to the 27th, i went on a trip to europe with rox, visiting several cities in three countries: spain (madrid, barcelona), france (aix-en-provence, marseille, cannes, grasse, montpellier, cassis, paris), italy (florence, rome).

our last stop was in paris. we spent one afternoon walking on les champs-élysées. we spent some time in the virgin megastore. the first item i picked up was vitalic's most recent "flashmob". then, browsing the french rock section, i found some old indochine albums, "l'aventurier" and "3". since these were all french releases, they were cheaper there than at home.

i also saw a new album by saez, "j'accuse". i had loved his debut "jours étranges" back when it was released a decade ago, but hadn't heard anything else since. so i was hesitant, and didn't get the new one. it's unfortunate, since returning home and sampling a few songs, i realized i should have bought it there. the stores here do not stock it...

~~~

Labels: cd purchase, indochine, vitalic

2010-06-09

monotreme

back when i ordered the most recent album by 65daysofstatic, i also went searching for their previous album "the destruction of small ideas", an album i have listened to countless times in digital form. i found it online and ordered it from monotreme records.

by the end of may, i came home from vacation, and saw a small padded envelope along with the rest of my mail. i ripped it open to find this:

exactly what i ordered, plus an ep by thee more shallows and some stickers. it's so nice of them to send a few bonuses!

i'd never heard of thee more shallows, but i am really liking the ep "cuts plus two". there's something about it that reminds me of the detachment kit, but with hushed vocals. i'll have to check out their other stuff.

~~~

Labels: 65daysofstatic, cd purchase, thee more shallows