[...music...]

fucked up

2011-10-08T00:10:00.001-04:00

while i was at the store to get unexpect's "in the flesh aquarium", i also got fucked up's "the chemistry of common life". this was about a month ago, when i knew they'd be playing during popmontreal. i thought i should check out their polaris prize-winning album rather than the new one. also, it was on special for $10.

when i paid for it, the cashier remarked that this album is better than the new one. i replied that i didn't know their music too well, that i was checking them out before their popmontreal show. the cashier told me that no joy was opening for them, a band i'd never heard about. he described them as "sound[ing] like sonic youth. a bit too much..."

in the end, fucked up played their show at 1:30am, which was too late (early?) for me, on a school night. the reviews were pretty positive, so i'm disappointed to have missed that.

~~~

unexpect

2011-10-07T23:59:00.001-04:00

when i see artists/bands that i don't know in the new releases section at hmv, i try to guess what genre it belongs to, judging from the album/artist name, the cover art, the record label. a few weeks ago, i saw a release with this cover art:

with no artist/album title on the cover, i guessed that it was some kind of indie rock. it turned out to be an album called "fables of the sleepless empire" by a band called unexpect. i looked for some label information, but there was none; ah, a self-release, this band must be *really* indie. it did have the factor logo, so it had to be canadian. i looked at the track listing. songs were on average about 6-7 minutes. i then guessed that maybe this was a post-rock band.

finally, i saw it at the listening station, in the punk/metal section. seems like my guesses were all wrong. i listened to the beginning of the first track. it sounded like symphonic metal. i skipped to the second track. i realized that the female vocals remind me a bit of the birthday massacre and johnny hollow, in that gothic kind of way.

at that moment, an interesting song was playing in the store; it sounded like a metal band with a string section. i asked the cashier what the songs was, and she told me it was off the new unexpect album. she added that they are a 7-piece local band. ah cool. anyway, it was enough to convince me to get the album.

the cashier recommended me their previous album, "in a flesh aquarium", which is a favourite of hers. she said that she likes it because of the circus sounds. that piqued my curiosity. rather than buy it right away, i listened to some songs i found online first. i agree with the cashier, in that "in a flesh aquarium" is pretty good. i ended up returning to the store a few days later to get it.

the music is mostly metal, kind of prog at times. i am not the biggest fan of metal (nor prog either), but unexpect add such an eclectic mix of other sounds that it makes the music very interesting. i don't even mind the typical (male) metal growls that much since they alternate with the (female) ethereal vocals. i really enjoy the touches of piano and violin. i think i hear a tango beat in there somewhere too.

~~~

avenue mont-royal

2011-10-03T18:41:00.003-04:00

on labour day weekend, i went to quebec city to attend a wedding. i came back on a sunday, and my brother still had the rental car, so i asked him to randomly drop me off on avenue mont-royal. it turned out they were having their sidewalk sale. yay, i love browsing through street sales, not knowing if i might find some good bargains on unexpected items. and a street sale on avenue mont-royal means i browse through all the second-hand cd shops.

the first kiosk i visited was actually from a pawn shop. they had a table with boxes of cd's, selling at $1 each. they were nice enough to place them spine-side up, so i could just read, without having to flip through the boxes. it was mostly stuff i've never heard of, or crappy pop fluff from the past (i.e. one-hit wonders and the like).

but i did find a shrink-wrapped copy of exterio's "l'album monstre 1ère partie: le complot". i vaguely knew that there were a local punk/rock band. eh, at $1, i don't mind getting the cd just to check it out. (it turns out they're the guys who sang "whippet". the lyrics are hilarious.)

then, at marché du disque, i browsed through more boxes on the street. i found anik jean's "trashy saloon". i don't know much about her music, but i do remember liking her version of jean leloup's "je suis partie".

about two years ago, i borrowed a compilation, "le pop en duo" from the library, and loved it. but i couldn't find it at the usual music shops. i did find it online, but from foreign webstores, and the currency exchange rate with shipping fees made it too expensive. what a pleasant discovery, when i found it at marché du disque for $5! and tax-free, since it was during the street sale period.

nice!

~~~

inception

2011-08-21T14:31:00.007-04:00

i saw the movie "inception" when it was released in the cinemas, about a year ago. i really enjoyed it. the plot was novel and the special effect were well done; i was so focused on the visuals of the movie that i didn't pay much attention to the music.

until a couple of weeks ago, when i came across this time-lapse video, and i realized how beautiful this piece of music is. [aside: the video is wonderfully shot and edited. i liked spotting out scenes from my hometown.]

hmv megastore are having a back-to-school sale. i found the "inception" soundtrack for $10.

my favourite track is the closer.

hans zimmer - time

~~~

french covers

2011-08-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

a while ago, i saw this new release at hmv megastore, "tels alain bashung", a compilation of cover songs. i wasn't at all familiar with the late artist's material, but from the track listing, i recognized a few names from la nouvelle scène française, such as gaëtan roussel, m, keren ann, vanessa paradis, bb brunes. after listening a few tracks, i liked the compilation enough to get it.

i got a chance to check out the original versions of the songs as well. and i must admit, bashung's songs sound a little, um, "dated" to me. i much prefer these modern reworkings. keren ann's is probably my favourite.

keren ann - je fume pour oublier que tu bois

compare with the original.

the québec edition includes two additional tracks, by yann perreau and ariane moffatt. their versions are kind of disappointing.

while at the store, i dug through their bargain bin. and i found nouvelle vague's "3" for $6. nice!

~~~

is this hyperreal?

2011-08-21T14:16:00.000-04:00

after breaking up 10 years ago, atari teenage riot have re-"activated" and released a new album this year, titled "is this hyperreal?". they gave such an amazing performance last fall, proving they've still got it; of course i had to get this new release.

10 years, and not much has changed, they've still got the signature atr sound, the usual lyrics about and "revolution" and "government", etc.

my favourite track is "codebreaker", probably because it sounds so much like stuff from their previous album "60 second wipe out".

atari teenage riot - codebreaker

~~~

the suburbs

2011-08-17T20:46:00.000-04:00

arcade fire's "the suburbs" was re-released earlier this month, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the album. it includes two additional tracks, and the short film "scenes from the suburbs" by spike jonze.

this must be a great album, since it won a grammy, beating out some more popular nominees... but to be honest, i feel kind of underwhelmed by it. maybe because of all the hype. still, i decided to finally get this album, just to complete my arcade fire discography.

and also because i plan to see them play at popmontreal this year. they're giving a free (outdoors?) show on the second night, as well as playing the metropolis on the first night. from what i heard, the tickets for the metropolis show were sold out in about 4 minutes, despite their efforts to counter scalpers. good thing i was online by 11:59am last friday, refreshing ticketmaster like crazy; i managed to buy a pair of tickets. yay.

~~~

dm remixes 2

2011-08-08T11:18:00.005-04:00

depeche mode released their latest compilation, with mostly remixes of new songs, and new remixes of old songs. i got the three-disc edition:

one track in particular stands out to me: the sixtoes remix of "peace", with the addition of stringed instruments, making it a non-electro song. interesting...

depeche mode - peace (sixtoes remix)

i found out that they have done other remixes too.

i also like what trentemøller did with "wrong".

depeche mode - wrong (trentemøller club remix)

~~~

animals as leader

2011-08-03T13:55:00.000-04:00

i passed by hmv megastore a couple of weeks ago, and i fell into the endcap trap. i saw animals as leaders' self-titled album, and i remembered this band when they opened for underoath back in february. i had liked their set, but couldn't find their merch table after the show.

i decided to make an impulse purchase at the store:

the music is kind of proggy, kind of mathy. definitely shows skills.

~~~

lupercalia + lemuralia

2011-07-28T12:18:00.006-04:00

a few weeks ago, i received this in the mail:

the new patrick wolf album "lupercalia". i had ordered online, and the package includes the ep "lemuralia".

whereas the previous album was a bit dark and gloomy, the general theme of "lupercalia" seems to be about being happy in love... understandable, since the dude got engaged last year. the songs are so light and sweet, it's like cotton candy.

my favourite track is "together". it has an electro feel to it, the alec empire touch.

together:

i wonder if there will be a north american tour...

~~~

futureperfect

2011-07-13T20:55:00.000-04:00

about two weeks ago, while walking to the library, i passed by the second-hand book/cd/dvd shop on ste-catherine, near st-denis; i think the shop is called "volume". since i had no plans that afternoon, i went in to browse for music.

i found vnv nation's "futureperfect" in their 'industrial' section, for $13. since i rarely see their albums for less than $20, i bought it.

the music is nice and light. it's the perfect soundtrack for walking around in the city.

~~~

jazz fest 2011

2011-07-06T19:55:00.005-04:00

the montreal jazz festival took place june 25 to july 4 this year. i went to some of the free shows.

first, there was the opening show on june 25, with ben l'oncle soul. wow, they had great energy. the singer was interacting with the crowd throughout the whole set. at one point, he even jumped off the stage, and walked deep into the crowd.

video:
http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/multimedia-en/video.aspx?id=1061

~~~

something new this year are the rencontres festives. i went to see roma carnivale vs. fanfare severni on thursday and monday. i loved the atmosphere, especially when the band was walking and playing at the same time, with the crowd following along; it was like a joyous street party. the 'face-off' portion of the show was kind of comical. of course, both bands ended up playing together.

video:
http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/multimedia-en/video.aspx?id=1125

~~~

finally, there was the closing show, on july 4th, with the b-52s. this band seems so quirky. we were impressed by their energy on stage, as they danced along to all their songs. their lyrics can be so nonsensical and ridiculous at times; i was laughing throughout most of the set. it was like fun party music. the only songs i knew were "love shack" and "rock lobster", which they ended the set with. since this was a closing show, the fireworks started immediately afterwards.

video:
http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/multimedia-en/video.aspx?id=1191

~~~

lights of endangered species

2011-06-17T10:28:00.002-04:00

i didn't know that matthew good was releasing any new material, until my cousin told me about it. then, i had forgotten the release date, until the same cousin sent me a link to stream the entire album "lights of endangered species".

i didn't need to sample the album; i'd buy any music matt good releases.

i like this album. my favourite track is "non populus".

Non Populus by Matthew Good

~~~

deftones, isis

2011-06-07T15:24:00.000-04:00

still doing my a-z challenge...

a few months ago, i got to deftones' "white pony". a pleasant rediscovery, i was surprised at how much of the lyrics i still remember. now, 11 years later, i still love that album. i decided to check out their more recent material; unfortunately, it didn't click.

back in april, on record store day, they released a compilation of cover songs. i found out that they had previously released other covers songs on their "b-sides & rarities" compilation, back in 2003. i gave that a listen. their cover of cocteau twins' "wax and wane" was good enough for me to order the disc online.

cocteau twins - wax and wane

deftones - wax and wane (cover)

other interesting artists/bands covered include sade, the cure, the smiths...

back to my a-z challege: when i got to isis' "wavering radiant", i realized that my favourite track from them is "weight" from the 2002 album "oceanic". i added that disc to my online order (i needed at least two items to get free shipping from amazon).

isis - weight

i've listened to the album in its entirety just a couple of times. i find it a bit difficult to get through.

~~~

godspeed @ l'olympia

2011-05-13T14:53:00.002-04:00

i concluded my post-rock week on sunday may 1st, with the godspeed you! black emperor show at l'olympia.

the opening band of the evening was dreamcatcher, an arty experimental noise duo. i did not care for it.

the current line-up of godspeed consists of 8 members. i only caught 4 in this photo:

lighting was that dim red glow throughout the whole set. this band has absolutely no stage presence, no interaction with the crowd; they're in their little stage bubble. they did have a large projection screen with cryptic video clips to provide some visual interest. i think i spent almost half the set with my eyes closed, absorbing the music.

aurally, wow...! each song was about 75% buildup, 20% music, 5% cool down. as a whole, the set was a lot of atmospheric drone, punctuated by bursts of musical goodness. part of the excitement was waiting for those magical moments.

they played for almost two hours.

setlist:
hope drone
she dreamt she was a bulldozer
gathering storm
albanian
dead metheny
09-15-00 outro
chart #3
world police and friendly fire
moya
bbf3

at the end of the night, i was feeling kind of happy.

~~~

take care

2011-04-28T18:12:00.004-04:00

continuing on with my post-rock week... monday, i was at the mogwai show. on tuesday, explosions in the sky's new album "take care, take care, take care" was released. i had pre-ordered it from temporary residence; i received in the mail yesterday.

the packaging is pretty nice. take a look:

"open" house, with poster, and postcard in the bottom left corner:

house, front view:

house, view from corner:

musically, there are no surprises, they haven't deviated at all from their sound. still, i like it. after a few more listens, i am sure that one of the six tracks will emerge as my favourite.

~~~

mogwai @ l'olympia

2011-04-27T13:57:00.003-04:00

on monday, i went to the mogwai show. it was my 5th time seeing this band.

the opening band was usa out of vietnam, replacing errors, who couldn't make it to the montreal show. their set was loud. and heavy. and loud. i wore earplugs for half the set; i didn't want to pre-blast my eardrums before a mogwai set.

when mogwai appeared on stage, i noticed the absence drummer martin bulloch. they explained that he's back home for family reasons, with errors drummer james hamilton filling in for the north american dates.

i found the first couple of songs kind of slow, and maybe too calm. the energy level progressively built up, culminating in an epic ending of noise and distortion; typical for this band. there was minimal use of strobe lights; instead, there was a widescreen projection of video clips to accompany the songs.

they mostly played songs from the new album, their 7th. at this point, with such a large catalogue, i don't even expect them to play "like herod" or "christmas steps" or "my father my king" like they used to. still, they included a couple of old tracks.

setlist:
white noise
friend of the night
how to be a werewolf
rano pano
death rays
i'm jim morrison, i'm dead
san pedro
ithica
mexican grand prix
helicon 1
you're lionel richie
we're no here

encore:
autorock
george square thatcher death party
glasgow mega-snake

what i like about this band is, how awesome they sound live. they've got almost no stage presence, no stage banter (other than guitarist stuart braithwaite saying "thank you" or "merci" after almost every song), just music. and it's enough for me to keep going to their shows.

~~~

purchase: i got a t-shirt with the mogwai young team logo; it's one of my favourite albums, and the logo is pretty cool.

hearing damage: during the show, their music didn't feel too loud; it was occasionally very dense, but not causing discomfort. but after the show, and all of yesterday, my ears were still ringing. even today, i don't feel like my hearing has 100% recovered. damn.

~~~

no devolución

2011-04-20T21:37:00.003-04:00

i missed out on ordering the deluxe edition of thursday's "no devolución" (only 500 copies, with laser-cut artwork); to be honest, i forgot that they were releasing some new material. when i remembered, i ordered it from the epitaph webstore. including shipping and usd-cad currency conversion, it was still cheaper than buying it from hmv.

i received the cd in the mail yesterday.

i've listened to this a couple of times by now, and i'm really liking it. overall, it's atmospheric and moody; an "experimental" progression from their previous material. the preview track "magnets caught in a metal heart" is a good example of this newer sound.

thursday - magnets in a metal heart

strangely, "empty glass" makes me think of digital ash-era bright eyes.

thursday - empty glass

i think this will be one of my favourite releases of the year. and "sparks against the sun" is my current favourite track.

thursday - sparks against the sun

~~~

100 lovers

2011-04-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

about a month after i ordered this online, i received devotchka's latest "100 lovers" in the mail.

i got the deluxe edition. the disc comes encased in a box, with a clear cover held onto the box with grommets:

included in the box is a bonus dvd, a zoetrope to assemble...

... and a cherry-flavoured chapstick that serves as the spindle. the zoetrope shows a man struggling with an umbrealla in the wind, in keeping with the umbrella theme of the album artwork.

musically, there are no surprises. pretty much what i expect from this band: gypsy-inspired folk music with americana touches.

~~~

devotchka @ le national

2011-04-13T11:22:00.000-04:00

oh wow, i just realized that i am really behind on my blogging.

at the end of last month, i went to the devotchka show with rox.

the opening band was b.e.t.a.l.o.v.e.r.s. their music was kind of folk/americana with a hint of jazz, so i initially thought they were american. when the singer started talking, i realized they were a local band.

this was my first time seeing devotchka play a full set. i hadn't listened to the new album yet, so i was glad they decided to play quite a few old song, including my favourites: "how it ends", "the clockwise witness", "the enemy guns". it was a nice evening.

no aerial silk performer this time. but they had a dancer with an umbrella perform during "100 other lovers", as show in this video i found on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKa_GTSq96s
from the angle, i think this was filmed by the girl standing next to us.

they ended up playing a 2.5+ hour show.

we were standing next to the stage, so after the show, rox was able to grab a copy of the setlist.

setlist:
the alley
head honcho
queen of the surface streets
poland (?)
the clockwise witness
the man from san sebastian
how it ends
all the sand in all the sea
we're leaving
vengo! vengo!
basso profundo
exhaustible
contrabanda
i cried like a silly boy
100 other lovers
the enemy guns

encore:
only love can break your heart (neil young cover)
undone
ranchero (?)

~~~

placebo, gallows

2011-03-21T22:54:00.004-04:00

a little while ago, i found out that placebo's former label will release a compilation of their b-sides. i was reminded that they've also released a compilation of cover songs, which i don't have. so i made an impulse decision to get it.

i found it at hmv.

they were selling it at 2/$30. so i needed to find another item to pair it with. i browsed around and saw gallows' releases. i first heard about the band back when their debut "orchestra of wolves" was released, with positive reviews. although i don't remember what that album sounded like, i do remember liking it. but at the store, it was their sophomore release "grey britain" that was part of the 2/$30 deal. i listened to a few songs, and liked it enough to get it.

i've been listening to this non-stop for the past week or so. in a way, it's the kind of standard punk rock stuff that i like. but what i love about this album are the orchestral parts on the mid-album track "death voices" and on the closing "crucifucks".

gallows - death voices

gallows - crucifucks

those parts are so hauntingly delicate, they contrast with the general aggressiveness of the album.

~~~

yann tiersen @ metropolis

2011-03-08T15:46:00.005-05:00

i had not planned on seeing the yann tiersen show that was part of the high lights festival, but i realized that it was during my midterm break, and i needed something fun to do. the show was on monday, two weeks ago.

the opening act was breathe owl breathe, a quirky indie band. half the set felt like a story-telling period, with the singer acting out the lyrics of the songs. it was alright.

yann tiersen's set was nice. a quiet evening for me.

when tiersen started speaking english in between songs, the crowd reacted by yelling "en français! on est au québec!". of course.

he and his band played all the songs from the most recent "dust lane", including the title track, which is my favourite on that release. i'm glad someone posted a video online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdaVWSS6YuY
(the audio quality is not too bad.)

when he played "sur le fil" on solo violin, it was the highlight of the show, for me. that song is pretty amazing in a live setting.

setlist (as posted on stage):
count down
dust lane
dark stuff
kala
amy
till the end
the wire
the train
ashes
chapter 19
palestine
fuck me

encore:
best of times (the trial)
le quartier
amélie

it doesn't seem complete, since "sur le fil" doesn't appear. or did they translate it as "the wire" on their setlist? seems strange...

the end of the show was perfect, with a re-worked version of "la valse d'amélie poulain". i left feeling all happy inside.

~~~

saddle creek

2011-02-22T16:03:00.004-05:00

last week was also the release of bright eyes' latest "the people's key". i pre-ordered it from saddle creek, along with some old releases: "every day and every night ep" (from 1999); "a christmas album" (from 2002, an online exclusive).

i received the parcel in the mail yesterday.

they threw in a sampler cd, and included a handwritten thank-you note. how nice!

i am still trying to absorb the epicness of mogwai, so i haven't listened to the new bright eyes yet.

february turned out to be a pretty good month for new releases, compared to the very quiet january.

~~~

hardcore will never die, but you will

2011-02-22T15:45:00.003-05:00

last week was the release of mogwai's latest "hardcore will never die, but you will". (one of their best album titles, i think.) i pre-ordered it from subpop, to get the deluxe edition, which includes a pair of earplugs with case. it's the perfect bonus item for a mogwai release, since they are known to be *loud* in concert.

i got the parcel in the mail on friday.

not only does the deluxe edition include a second disc with a 23-minute track, the packaging is quite nice, bound like a hardcover book.

i've been busy lately, so i only got a chance to listen to the album twice, as background music. at first listen, i was not feeling it. i liked it a bit the second time, discovering some interesting sounds. i'll have to spend some time listening to this album with earphones to really appreciate it.

i haven't listened to the second disc yet. at 23 minutes, the track should be epic.

~~~

armistice, pierre lapointe

2011-02-16T15:36:00.007-05:00

last week, my cousin sent me an article on armistice, with song samples. after hearing "mission bells", the song was in my head for days. yesterday was the release date for their self-titled ep, so i went to the store to get it. so yes, this is my second couple-duo purchase of the year.

the vocals go well together. and i like the mariachi sounds, which sets this apart from their respective projects.

while at the store, i saw that pierre lapointe has a new release, "seul au piano". i usually do not care for live recordings, especially when there is no new material on it. it was available at the listening station so i checked it out.

oh wow. after hearing the solo piano version of "deux par deux rassemblés", i was sold. even though this release has no new material, the songs sound so different from the original albums versions, "seul au piano" is worth getting.

let's compare one of my favourite tracks, "deux par deux rassemblés".

original version, from the album "la forêt des mal-aimés":

live solo piano version:

i like the funny bit (at around 1:15) on "au bar des suicidés", when he mimics the guitar solo:

~~~

underoath + thursday @ metropolis

2011-02-15T23:32:00.010-05:00

about a month or two ago, i saw the show listing for underoath playing at the metropolis, with thursday as one of the guests, but i did not plan on going to the show for an opening band. then, two weeks ago, i noticed the finer print on the tour poster indicating that thursday were playing "full collapse" in its entirety in celebration of its tenth anniversary. this is one of my favourite albums of all time, so there was no way i'd miss this.

i went to the show last night. it was immediately apparent that this was not my scene. while waiting in line before the show, people around me were young, and talking about all these bands i'd never heard of, but sound like emo/screamo/hardcore stuff, judging by the band names.

first openers were animals as leaders. wow. a math-y instrumental prog band, without the wankery. they played eight-string guitars, showing off technique. at one point, guitarist tosin abasi played on the neck of the instrument, and it sounded like keyboards; cool effect. as a new listener, it was slightly hard to follow, with all the mid-song switching and unusual time signatures. to me, they sounded like a heavier version of all the post-rock stuff i listen to, so i really enjoyed this set.

next band was a skylit drive. ugh, a skinny-white-boy band, with more style than substance. they were like a boy band (there was the blonde, the dirty blonde, the redhead, the light brunette, the dark brunette, and the dyed black-haired crazy one), with their carefully slashed jeans, the perfectly rehearsed posturing and synchronized jumping. i wondered who their target audience was. oh right, the 14-year-old girls standing behind me who sang along to all the songs. i definitely felt too old for that.

then, it was thursday. their show about a year ago at the foufs was pretty good, so i was really excited to hear "full collapse" played live. it turned out slightly disappointing; i must have been standing at a bad spot for sound, because the vocals were completely drowned out. the energy level was high, and the band really gave their all on stage, but i did not hear any of the vocals. the guy standing next to me made fun of the fact that we saw rickly's lips move, but with no sound. damn.

at least, i heard when he introduced "standing on the edge of summer" as "easy listening". well, i guess it qualifies; it is the "ballad" of the album.

after playing "full collapse", they played a new song, "turnpike divides", from the upcoming album. hard to judge if it sounded good. even though i'm not a super big thursday fan, i always find a couple of songs to like on each album, so i'll probably end up getting the new one.

i stuck around to hear what underoath is about. their sound was meh, and their lights were blinding me. i left after the second song.

~~~

team boo

2011-02-03T02:06:00.004-05:00

on monday, i passed by cheap thrills to buy tickets for devotchka's upcoming show (in march!). since i had a bit of time to kill, i quickly flipped through the bargain bin. so many promo/not-for-sale cd's! one of the reasons i buy cd's is for the packaging, so there is no point for me to buy promo cd's that come in a simple sleeve. still, there were some retail cd's. amongst those, i found mates of state's "team boo".

i may not be a big fan of the band, but their music is so cute/sweet/pop, there is nothing to hate. besides, it was only $0.99; how could i resist?

opening track "ha ha":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYfybYDm3-A

~~~

robyn @ metropolis

2011-02-01T13:26:00.005-05:00

last thursday, i went to the robyn show with my cousins. turns out she has a good following here: the show was sold out, and i heard the scalpers were trying to sell tickets for $60 (originally $27).

the first act was natalia kills. i had seen shows with circus acts before (dresden dolls, emilie autumn, devotchka), but i think this was my first time seeing backup dancers:

this was perhaps the shortest set i've seen. she performed four songs, where the fourth was actually a dance version of the first. sure her songs are catchy at first listen, but not my kind of thing.

next act was diamond rings. i had seen him open for owen pallett last year, and was pleasantly surprised. this time, i was looking forward to his set. his outfit this time: fuchsia jacket, pink tank top, gold chains, and gold leggings. so glam.

almost all the songs he played were from his album "special affections", so i recognized them. he punctuated his set with fist pumps and skinny-white-boy dance moves. so kitsch.

finally, robyn appeared on stage, with a band consisting of two keyboard players and a drummer. her outfit: black bomber jacket, stringy white vest, black top, floral print leggings, platform ankle boots.

wow, she was so full of energy, dancing a lot, all over the stage.

she performed all her hits from the self-titled and "body talk" albums. the crowd was really into it. she kept it electro-pop, closely like the album version, so it was like one big dance party. i had a lot of fun: dancing and singing along, generally acting silly. eh, who cares.

for her first encore, she did a mellow version of "u should know better", without the snoop dogg parts, followed by more badassery with "konichiwa bitches".

she ended the set with a "dancing queen" medley that transitioned into her classic 1997 hit "show me love", re-worked for 2011, of course.

setlist posted here.

even though this was my first show of 2011, i think it will be one of my favourite for the year.

~~~

tron: legacy

2010-12-28T22:41:00.003-05:00

a while ago, there seemed to be a lot of hype about daft punk's soundtrack for "tron: legacy". to be honest, the hype put me off a bit. a week ago, i had some time to kill before meeting with friends, so i checked out hmv megastore. i saw that the soundtrack was available at the listening station, so i sampled a few tracks. it seemed pretty cool to me. stanley seems excited about this movie, so i got the cd for him, as a christmas gift.

in fact, it's a selfish gift: the kind i give, but in the end, i will keep for myself.

we saw the movie this weekend. the music fits so well. so cool and futuristic. daft punk + tron makes the perfect pairing. stanley likes the music a lot too. so i've digitized it for him. i am keeping the cd. hah.

~~~

songs of 2010

2010-12-26T23:33:00.003-05:00

it's time for end-of-the-year lists. here are some songs i liked from 2010 releases. in an order that makes a coherent playlist.

envy "last hours of eternity"

a track that makes me think of sunrises. i love the gentle opening buildup with spoken word that launches into an emotional outburst.

the dillinger escape plan "widower"

definitely the "ballad" of the album. i love how the song starts of jazz/lounge-y, giving no indication that it will transitions, rather smoothly, to vocal assault by the 4th minute. the band shows off their range.

gogol bordello "my companjera"

this may sound like an older track of theirs, but it's damn catchy.

the thermals "never listen to me"

a no-fuss song.

ted leo and the pharmacists "bottled in cork"

another no-fuss song. the official video is hilarious.

los campesinos "the sea is a good place to think of the future"

this youthful band shows some maturity with this track. the acoustic live version is nice.

xiu xiu "gray death"

the "pop" song of the album, in the sense that it's pretty straightforward, nothing too weird or experimental going on here.

how to destroy angels "the space in between"

dark, heavy, and slightly ominous...

diamond rings "wait & see"

... balanced by some cheezy synth-pop.

robyn feat. snoop dogg "u should know better"

robyn shows her sassy, tough-girl side. the snoop dogg collaboration bumps up the street cred a notch.

gorillaz "white flag"

a good mix of various genres, ranging from middle eastern orchestral to british urban.

peter gabriel "après moi"

amazing cover. the strings part in the 3rd minute kills it.

amphetamine ost "reunion"

another track with stringed instruments that is simply lovely. the part that starts at 0:11 makes me think of butterflies fluttering in the wind during a beautiful summer day.

final fantasy "lewis takes off his shirt"

when i hear this song, i am reminded of a video of an amazing live performance; worth watching until the end! (or skip to 2:38 when it starts to get a little crazy.)

yann tiersen "dust lane"

a new sound from this musician. there are parts of this track that make me think of 65daysofstatic.

65daysofstatic feat. robert smith "come to me"

i love the entire album as a whole. i pick this track for the playlist because it also features guest vocals.

massive attack feat. hope sandoval "paradise circus"

a chillout track. hope sandoval has such a lovely voice.

trentemøller "shades of marble"

perhaps the best new discovery of the year, for me.

~~~

broken social scene @ metropolis

2010-12-26T22:52:00.000-05:00

for my birthday, roxanne gave me a ticket to see broken social scene at metropolis. the show was last saturday the 18th. we got good spots, front and centre, yay!

roxanne has already blogged all about it. i don't have much else to add.

openers were here we go magic:

broken social scene:

my favourite part was when they played "kc accidental". it's too bad they played it so early into their set; i wasn't even warmed up yet.

i've realized that this is a band i love so much more in a live setting. their albums are kind of meh. in concert, they have so much more energy. singer kevin drew has a cult leader-ish charm to him. during "ibi", he mentioned that a rage against the machine tribute band was in town, and that "we can do better than them", so he had us all shout the lyrics "fuck you, i won't do what you tell me" in increasing intensity.

i found this video of "anthems", with guest amy millan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz3HqbRzXd4

~~~

special affections

2010-12-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

a while ago, godspeed you black emperor finally announced some montreal dates for their spring 2011 tour. unfortunately, i could not get tickets. major disappointment.

then, they announced two additional shows at a bigger venue. about two weeks ago, i went to cheap thrills to get tickets. since they went on sale at noon, i browsed around the shop at around 11:50am. i quickly went through their used section, and saw diamond rings' "special affections". i remember liking his set when he opened for owen pallett; so i made an impulse purchase.

it's cheezy 80's synth pop, but i like it.

~~~

amphetamine

2010-12-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

a while ago, i saw a hong kong movie, 安非他命 (amphetamine).

trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNcRx2ScIPY

it was a somewhat pretentious artsy-fartsy kind of movie. beautifully shot. but the storyline and dialogue were not great. on the other hand, i loved the music. it fit the scenes well; subtle, without being manipulative.

on its own, the music is great too. i ended up ordering the soundtrack online. it turned out not too expensive, even including the shipping from hong kong.

the cd booklet is big and glossy, which is nice. except that it's too thick to fit into the case, which annoys me a bit.

the soundtrack is composed of 29 short pieces. there is a melody that repeats itself throughout, with variations. those are my favourite parts. examples below.

天堂的初吻 (kiss from heaven)

歸途 (way home)

重聚 (reunion)

曲終 (end)

~~~

body talk

2010-11-22T21:17:00.003-05:00

robyn's third and final output of the "body talk" series was released today (on a monday?). i got it on my way home from school.

it feels like a bit of a rip-off, since it contains 5 songs from each of the previous releases and only 5 new songs.

i wonder why part 1 has an alternate cover in north america. it doesn't fit with the series...

~~~

heavy sky ep

2010-11-21T20:28:00.003-05:00

ever since i ordered 65daysofstatic's "we were exploding anyway", i've been placed on their mailing list. i usually opt-out of stuff like that, but their newsletter is pretty funny, so i kept reading for entertainment.

about a month ago, they announced the release of "heavy sky ep", with unreleased tracks from the exploding sessions. i pre-ordered it, then it came by mail a couple of weeks ago. i kind of forgot to write up a blog post about this.

shipping was £5.85 for a £7 cd. meh.

~~~

random stuff

2010-10-25T00:13:00.005-04:00

i wandered into hmv megastore on thursday, not looking for anything in particular. i ended up making a few unplanned purchases.

i saw that yann tiersen released a new album, "dust lane". when i listened to a few tracks at the listening station, i found that this new stuff is nothing like the "amélie" material i associate most with him. i couldn't decide if i like this new style, but i don't dislike it, so i got the album anyway.

i also saw the new trent reznor release, the soundtrack for "the social network", at the listening station. i tried a few tracks; sounds like mostly ambient stuff. not sure if this will make my top 10 of the year, but i'm a fan who will buy any music he produces.

since i was in the "soundtrack" section of the store, i checked out hans zimmer's soundtrack for "sherlock holmes". when i saw that movie, the first thing i noticed was how much i loved the music. i had immediately wanted to get the soundtrack, but the $20 pricetag made me hesitate. now, i saw that it was on special, 2 for $30. i just needed to find another cd to pair it with.

i searched in the adjacent "francophone" section. i randomly looked up mickey 3d. i first heard his music on the compilation "le pop en duo", with his collaboration with jane birkin, the track "je m'appelle jane". [in fact, i discovered many wonderful artists with that compilation. such as vincent delerm with "veruca salt et frank black".] in the summer, when i saw that mickey 3d were playing at francofolies, i listened to their most recent album "la grande évasion", and loved it. at the time, the $20 pricetag also made me hesitate to get the cd. but now, what a coincidence, it was also on special at 2 for $30. it was so meant to be.

~~~

massive attack + thievery corporation @ bell centre

2010-10-20T12:11:00.004-04:00

the show was on monday evening. i went with some friends: roxanne, fil, christophe. the stage was placed at mid-arena, and we had seats in section 116; good view.

first act of this double bill was thievery corporation. i had heard of this band's name, but the only music i'd heard from them was a clip of "thievery blonde", a track i think they played that night.

their music is a mix of electro with world music. it was nice, very lounge.

my favourite track was near the end, before the encore, when the stage was completely bathed in red light. after some searching, i found a youtube user who uploaded some great videos of the show. turns out the song was "sound the alarm".

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kDcU_p8ujQ

i was there for the main headliners, massive attack. "mezzanine" is my favourite album of theirs, and i told myself before the show that i'd happy if anything from that album gets played.

the stage atmosphere was eerie throughout their set: the stage was dark most of the time, lots of smoke, the occasional spooky light effects, and a led screen in the background with lots of writing. i thought the visual effects were well done to keep the audience entertained.

except for the writing on the led screen. at first, it was random phrases (in french!), which was alright. but during "girl i love you", the content became socio-economic, using numbers to contrast between the living conditions of an industrialized country and that of a developing nation, etc. i appreciate a band with strong politics and a message to say; but at that moment, i felt a bit too uneasy to rock out during a song while i am reminded that there are people in the world with little access to drinkable water and their annual salary is minimal.

my favourite part of the show started with white lights illuminating streams of smoke; very ghostly. when the song started, i didn't recognize it until martina topley-bird started singing: it was "teardrop"! squee momment for me. this song was followed by "angel". another squee moment. finally, this was followed by "inertia creeps". this trio of songs, performed live, was the highlight of the show, for me. (during "inertia creeps", the led screen displayed news headlines, in french. a bit sensational, like the stuff you'd see on journal the montreal...)

the same youtube user has some great videos of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqpkTKtlzy8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0_Ccz1RVIs

people have been putting together the setlist on setlist.fm. but as of this moment, i feel that it is not the most accurate; i am pretty sure there were some other songs between "mezzanine" and "teardrop". i'll wait a few days to see if it gets updated.

the encore was pretty epic. the last couple of songs had some long instrumental jams. robert del naja danced like in a trance.

it was quite a show.

~~~

herbin inks

2010-10-14T18:25:00.005-04:00

the stationery boutique at la grande bibliothèque is having a closing sale, with all merchandise at 50% off. i promised myself not to buy any more notebooks, so i got some herbin ink cartidges. they only had five colours left, so i got one tin of each: bleu azur, bleu nuit, cacao du brésil, gris nuage, poussière de lune.

they're not terribly exciting colours, they seem kind of washed-out. cartridges are a good way to sample some ink, so i'll see how they turn out on paper, when i eventually try them out. it's too bad i don't have enough fountain pens to ink them all at once

~~~

gorillaz @ bell centre

2010-10-10T21:14:00.004-04:00

on sunday, one week ago, i went to the gorillaz show at the bell centre, with roxanne, fil, lucia. we got some pretty good seats, in the middle, a bit higher than stage level. we had a good view of the whole stage, although a bit far.

the openers were we are wolves, from montreal. they first appeared with ridiculous props on their backs. they started with a few garage-rock-ish songs. meh. then they went more electro-dance-rock, and i liked that more. the only track i recognized was "fight and kiss", from their previous album, i think.

with gorillaz, it was a full orchestra and band on stage, with various guest vocalists. unfortunately, i didn't know any of them... on the other hand, i was pretty excited to see paul simonon and mick jones touring as part of the gorillaz band, as i am a big fan of the clash, and am too young to have seen their live shows in their prime. i only wish i was close enough to the stage to have seen them play, and not just shadows of musicians moving around on stage...

for most of the show, my eyes were on the animations on the big screen, since there wasn't much happening on the stage; the "cartoons" were much more interesting. i didn't know the songs enough to sing along, but i did dance throughout most of the show.

roxanne has a blog post of the event, including the setlist:
orchestral intro
welcome to the world of the plastic beach
19-2000
last living souls
oh green world
stylo
melancholy hill
rhinestone eyes
superfast jellyfish
tomorrow comes today
kids with guns
empire ants
dirty harry
el manana
white flag
to binge
dare
glitter freeze
plastic beach

encore:
cloud of unknowing
feel good inc.
clint eastwood
don't get lost in heaven
demon days

this was my most expensive show, with the ticket costing 3-4 times my average show budget. but it was fun to attend with friends. i can't deny that it's a completely difference experience from the tiny club shows. i still have one more arena show coming up (in a week). after that, i should probably stick to $15 shows for a while...

~~~

atari teenage riot @ foufounes électriques

2010-10-06T10:39:00.004-04:00

atari teenage riot is a band i've been listening to for a long while. i think it was since high school, about ten years ago. their album "60 second wipe out" was the first cd i bought that was over $20. i had gotten it at a music shop at galeries des sources. it was so long ago that there was a music shop in that ghetto suburb mall, and it even had a cassette section.

every time i listen to that album, i try to imagine this band in a live show. but i never thought i would ever see this band in concert, especially since they disbanded in 2000. and i'm not sure they play canada.

the band reunited this year. when i found out that they were playing popmontreal, i was super excited. especially since they were playing foufounes électriques, which is exactly the kind of venue i imagine them at. so yeah, saturday's show was a dream come true to me.

the first act was a laptop duo, montreal nintendo orkestar. they played around with various electronic gadgets (including a couple of ninento ds', haha). it turned out to be a 30-minute set of drone music. i guess they're supposed to be avant-garde or something, but it wasn't too interesting for me.

the second opener was autoerotique, another laptop act. i found the beginning a bit awkward: the music was some generic stuff that sounded like background filler, so people didn't realize the second act had started as they continued to chit-chat loudly. when he started to play some harder electro, a couple of girls started dancing. soon, a bunch of people joined them, and it became an industrial dance floor. the music mostly consisted of heavy beats, which got people dancing. but with the one-hour set, it felt long and slightly repetitive. i still enjoyed it as a warm-up to atr.

finally, atr took the stage. their new incarnation is a trio: alec empire, nic endo, cx kidtronik.

oh wow. their energy is amazing. their show was everything i imagined it to be, and even better, with seizure-inducing strobe lights and the sketchy industrial setting. of course they were loud; but surprisingly, not to the point of it being uncomfortable.

from setlist.fm:
waves of disaster (instrumental)
activate
into the death
no remorse (i wanna die)
destroy 2000 years of culture
sick to death
deutschland (has gotta die!)
atari teenage riot
fuck all
no success
midijunkies
get up while you can
too dead for me
u.s. fade out
(instrumental noise jam)
speed

encore:
not your business
ghost chase
revolution action
start the riot
(instrumental noise jam)

first highlight for me was when they played "too dead for me", one of my favourite tracks. a good day for airplay posted a video of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RsVM-3RpI8

the best part of the show for me was during the encore, when they played "revolution action" (it's how i heard of this band in the first place, when i saw the video for this track played on muchmusic's "the wedge", x years ago). from the angle of this clip, i think this person was standing about two feet behind me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJ7LJkiW1A&t=4m52s

~~~

temporary residence

2010-10-04T15:03:00.004-04:00

a couple of weeks ago, i pre-ordered envy's new album "recitation". since i was paying for shipping fees, i decided to add another item to my order, grails' "doomsdayer's holiday". the order shipped a week earlier than i thought. i received it in the mail last week.

the envy album starts off quiet: a bit of poetry reading, then a long, drawn-out mono-esque song intro. at first listen, i was afraid they may have gone full post-rock on this release. but no, the vocals begin, and i am assured that they've kept their screamo influences.

this is the kind of album that requires full attention to be appreciated. unfortunately, i haven't had the time to solely focus on this release for the past week. i've only been listening to it as background music, and there is not yet one track that stands out for me. i'll need to find an evening to spend some time on this.

the grails album is different from what i usually listen to. it's kind of trippy, jazzy, heavy. the soundtrack to some dark experimental film. i love the opening title track:

~~~

penny sparkle, five ghosts

2010-09-20T15:59:00.000-04:00

the new blonde redhead album, "penny sparkle", was released last week. i got the limited edition. at the store, the only difference i could see was that it was packaged in a cardboard box instead; no extra tracks or anything.

when i opened it at home, i saw that not only is the box lined inside, the disc is contained in a small canvas pouch. how precious.

after a couple of listens, it sounds alright. so far, there isn't one track that stands out too much for me. i think i need several more listens to fully appreciate this.

at the store, i saw that they were selling the most recent stars album "the five ghosts", with a discount on the limited edition that includes the bonus ep "the séance". even though i don't know what this album sounds like, i still got it.

sadly, it's been a week, and i haven't gotten around to listening to this yet...

~~~

personal life

2010-09-20T15:43:00.003-04:00

two weeks ago, when i went to the store to get robyn's new release, i saw that the thermals have a new album out, "personal life". i feel like they've been releasing the same album over and over again, so i didn't pay any attention to it. until later that day, when i listened to a full album stream on npr. i was hooked by the fourth track or so.

i returned to the store the next day to get the new release.

i've listened to it a couple of times now. sounds more or less like all their previous stuff. less angry, more pop, less loud, more mellow.

my favourite is the 'soft' song "never listen to me":

i also like "your love is so strong", which sounds the most like their old songs:

~~~

body talk

2010-09-07T19:24:00.007-04:00

robyn's new mini-album "body talk pt.2" was released today; i got it on my way to school. it's more of that cool pop-electro stuff she does so well.

standout track for me is "indestructible (acoustic version)"; the strings in the beginning is so lovely. and i love the tough girl act on "u should know better".

robyn - indestructible (acoustic version)

robyn feat. snoop dogg - u should know better

[side note: i am still continuing my challenge. i am at the blood brothers' releases right now. i haven't listened to this stuff in so long that i'd forgotten how much i love it.]

~~~

moleskine planner

2010-08-12T23:55:00.002-04:00

last week, when walking past multi-mags on saint-laurent, i saw that they had the new moleskine planners. a whole bunch of new colours, in an extra small size.

i went for the usual large notebook planner in red hardcover:

they have a new packaging.

~~~

how to destroy angels

2010-08-12T23:49:00.001-04:00

how to destroy angels is trent reznor's new project with wife mariqueen maandig. when the self-titled ep was released online, i downloaded it of course. after listening to it for a while, i moved on to other music.

i had forgotten that there would be a physical release as well. about two weeks ago, i passed by the music shop and finally picked it up.

i really like it. it sounds like all the atmospheric nin stuff, which i love, with female vocals. and i love her voice; it fits so well with the music.

~~~

challenge (?)

2010-07-21T13:01:00.004-04:00

since the beginning of this month (july 2010), i've decided to cut down on my spending. this means: no more impulse cd purchases. in fact, no music purchases at all would be ideal, but i am not sure i can do that.

to keep myself from longing for new music, i've decided to revisit my entire collection. starting from !!!, i will listen to every album i own (600+), until i reach zwan.

so far, i've gotten to arcade fire. i've already re-discovered stuff i forgot i used to love:
- amon tobin "foley room"
- a perfect circle "mer de nom" (i'm surprised i still remember all the lyrics!)
- arab strap "monday at the hug and pint"
- arcade fire "funeral"

... as well as some impulse purchases that i shouldn't have made:
- amiina "animamina" and "kurr"
- amon tobin "permutation"
- andy stochansky "five star motel"
- animal collective "sung tongs"

i wonder how long it will take me to get to the end.

~~~

ted leo & the pharmacists @ il motore

2010-06-25T20:39:00.003-04:00

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.

~~~

scandinavia

2010-06-17T09:55:00.004-04:00

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.

~~~

reissues

2010-06-17T09:48:00.004-04:00

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.

~~~

lamy al-star coffee

2010-06-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

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.

~~~

virgin megastore champs-élysées

2010-06-14T22:02:00.001-04:00

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...

~~~

monotreme

2010-06-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

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.

~~~

we were exploding anyway

2010-05-02T09:29:00.001-04:00

a few weeks ago, i found out from a series of mp3 blogs that 65daysofstatic have new material this year. i didn't even bother downloading the mutliple leaks, since i knew i'd be getting it.

two weeks ago, when randomly browsing stuff on the internet, i found out from the band's blog that the first pressing is a deluxe edition. according to the blog: "hard cover, booklet full of extra artwork, won’t get reprinted once it’s gone. there are no extra songs on it. how many albums have their carefully structured flow ruined by badly-placed bonus tracks? loads." haha, i like their humour.

anyway, i'm always a sucker for deluxe editions, so i ordered the album online. the gbp-cad exchange rate is pretty good these days. even including the shipping, it wasn't too expensive.

on friday, the album arrived in the mail:

yeah, the packaging is pretty nice; bound like a hardcover book.

and they are streaming the whole album now:
http://www.myspace.com/65propaganda

i really like it. it is one of my favourites of this year, so far.

~~~

trans-continental hustle

2010-05-02T09:13:00.001-04:00

earlier this week, i got the new gogol bordello album "trans-continental hustle".

i was listening on repeat for a few days. it's good, but feels a bit flat. i mean, it sounds like a re-hash of their old material.

for example, my favourite track from the new album is "my companjera" [youtube]. it reminds me so much of "wonderlust king" [youtube] from the previous album.

also, on this new album, there is too much repetition, like the way he sings the same line more than a dozen times within the same song.

overall, on its own, it is a good album. but knowing they've done better before, i'd say this album is not amazing or anything.

~~~

gogol bordello + devotchka @ metropolis

2010-05-02T04:03:00.002-04:00

ayoye, i've fallen behind on my blogging. this entry will be brief.

on april 18, i went to the gogol bordello show with roxanne and fil. devotchka was one of the openers. this was the line-up we'd been dreaming of. we got our tickets on the day they went on sale, more than two months before the show.

we got a spot in the front, right at the barrier. the first opener was jesse malin & the st. marks social. it was typical rock, with hints of folk/punk, i guess. they had a couple of catchy songs.

the next openers were devotchka. i'd been wanting to see them play ever since roxanne introduced their music to me, via a mix cd, some years ago. their live show was really good. the singer had an old-fashion microphone. for one of their songs, they had an aerial silk performer. so cool!

they played my favourite song "how it ends" so i was happy. i tried to steathily capture a video before the security dude stepped into my camera's field of view, ruining the shot as he gave me the bad eye...

devotchka setlist:
basso profundo
venus in furs
the clockwise witness
head honcho
i cried like a silly boy
vengo (manya)
we're leaving
how it ends
poland
international
the enemy guns

finally, gogol bordello were on stage. i managed to snap a few pictures before it got too crazy.

and oh my, it was pretty crazy. it was so packed. the whole time, there was someone on my back; in any other context, it would have been some form of sexual harrassment. for most of the time, i was thinking "i'm getting too old for this...". i spent more energy trying to push people off my back than trying to enjoy the music.

i only recognized the few songs from "underdog world strike", such as "not a crime" and "start wearing purple". i guess most of the set were songs from the new album.

there are some videos on youtube.

~~~

cd purchases: i got the devotchka albums that i was missing, "supermelodrama" and "una volta".

hearing damage: yeah, my ears were ringing. my arms and knees were also bruised from being constantly pushed against the metal barrier. ugh; i'm too old for this shit.

~~~

new stuff

2010-04-11T16:17:00.007-04:00

on tuesday this week, my first day back from the weekend trip where i already bought a pile of cd's, i passed by hmv megastore. i was in a musically receptive mood, which meant that i sampled new stuff at the listening boths, and walked out with some impulse purchases.

the first thing i picked up was jónsi's solo release "go". from the samples i heard, it seems similar to his sigur rós material, but more whimsy.

next, i got gorillaz's "plastic beach", the 'experience edition' that includes a 'making of' documentary dvd and online access to additional media. roxanne had recently blogged about them, and i liked what i heard. it's an interesting mix of sounds.

i saw the new dillinger escape plan release "option paralysis" at the listening booth, and sampled a few tracks. i had an idea of what they sound like, from the show i saw. it's 'brutal' stuff, compared to what i am usually into. but what really surprised me was the lovely piano beginning of "widower". contrast that with the opening track "farewell, mona lisa".

the dillinger escape plan - widower

the dillinger escape plan - farewell, mona lisa

finally, i sampled melissa auf der maur's "out of our minds" at the listening booth as well. she's really good at rocking out.

~~~

nyc purchases

2010-04-08T22:26:00.001-04:00

this past easter weekend, i went on a trip to new york city with some friends: gloria, manna, sabine. it was funny how every street i walked on reminded me of some equivalent area in montreal. i guess i really am a montrealer at heart...

this was kind of a girls' trip, with tourist/art/entertainment activities. and of course, shopping. i had prepared a list of music shops in the greenwich/east village area, so i went there with gloria on saturday afternoon, with a couple of hours to spare before seeing a play that evening.

first, there was disc-o-rama, on 8th street near 6th avenue. that place looked kind of sketch. their selection seemed to be more mainstream whatever, but i am sure that if i had the time to carefully browse, i would probably find some gems. but we were on a tight schedule, so we quickly headed for the next shop.

while walking there, we passed by bleeker bob's records on 3rd street, which was not on my list, but we went in to take a look. mostly old/vintage vinyl. and i found some weirdass records, i must say. the cd section seemed promising, but i didn't have the time to browse much.

next, it was generation records on thompson, south of 3rd street. oh wow, i felt like a kid in a candy store who wants to buy everything but only has $5 in her pocket. i spent some time in there, barely listening to gloria as i sporadically jumped from one section to another, frantically browsing. their selection was more rock/indie/punk/industrial and i found so much stuff i wanted. i had to limit myself to releases i can't find back home.

first, i saw mono & world's end girlfriend's collaboration "palmless prayer / mass murder refrain". i don't remember ever seeing it in the montreal shops (if i did, i probably would have bought it already), so i grabbed that. then, i came across the buzzcocks deluxe reissues: "another music in a different kitchen", "love bites", "a different kind of tension". when those were released earlier this year, i had planned on getting them. but at $26 each at hmv, i didn't. there at generation records, those releases were at $17 each; considering the exchange rate is almost one to one, with lower taxes in nyc, it was a really good deal.

afterwards, we headed to other music on 4th street near lafayette. gloria and i split as she went to the strand bookstore. i had another 'squee' moment, since that shop carries mostly indie stuff, almost everything i wish i owned in my collection! the first thing i grabbed was the magnetic fields' "69 love songs", the box set.

on a whim, i browsed the 'international' and more specifially, the 'asia' section. i couldn't believe it, i actually found two albums by carsick cars!!! oh wow, i had found out about this band about a year ago through the internet, when i was bored and googled for some beijing rock. at the time, i downloaded their self-titled debut, never thinking i would ever find a physical copy, at least not on this side of the world. and there, at other music, was both their debut and sophomore release "you can listen, you can talk", for only $15 each, which is cheap considering these are imports.

then, in the bargain section, i saw the zombieland soundtrack for only $3. i got it for my brother since he seemed to have liked the movie. at that price, i don't care if the soundtrack is crap.

as i continued browsing, the clerk from the store saw my stack and chatted me up about carsick cars, saying she was seeing them in a few days in la. oh wow, what a random coincidence! it also turns out that she's their tour manager. then she went to the back and brought out some suggested listening from other bands of the beijing scene. in the end, i only selected ourself beside me's self-titled, since the clerk described them as an all-girl band who are 'rebels', so yeah, i kind of fell for that.

the clerk also suggested snapline, which she described as similar to joy division, but they were unfortunately out. damn, i would have liked to get that. i also asked about p.k. 14, another beijing band i found through the internet. the shop was also out of that. anyways, i should look into mail ordering from them, if shipping isn't too pricey.

for my final destination, i walked towards st. mark's place. but as i passed by cooper square, i smelled food, and i saw that there was a street market. even if not too buy, i am always attracted to street markets, for some reason. of course, i found the music stand, with its tables and rows of discs. it was late afternoon and they were starting to pack. but in the rock section, i did find xiu xiu's "women as lovers" and beach house's "teen dream" for a cheap flat price.

finally, i reached st. mark's place, where i had planned to check out mondo kim's. but i found it replaced by a shiny karaoke bar. uh, ok. instead, down the street, there was another shop called sounds. they seem to have a good rock selection. but this was another shop that required browsing time, and i only had five minutes to spend in there.

conclusion: i love nyc for cd shopping. i only wish i had more time to browse. or maybe not, because i would have spent so much more $$$...

~~~

miquelrius flexible notebooks

2010-03-31T21:40:00.004-04:00

in preparation for my easter weekend trip to nyc with some friends, i was tempted to get a moleskine city notebook. but the $24 pricetag kind of dissuaded me.

instead, i got a miquelrius flexible notebook:

i got the pocket-sized notebook that measures 7x12 cm, with 64 plain sheets. it is the perfect size for carrying around in my purse all the time. it is so small, compared to an average fountain pen:

there were several cover options. i chose the textured silver:

~~~

i am also planning a month-long trip to europe (spain, france, italy) with roxanne in may. i got another miquelrius notebook:

i went for the small size notebook measuring 10.4x15 cm, with 96 blank sheets, which is still compact enough to carry around:

the notebook is of the joshua davis line. the cover is made of a rubbery fake leather material. i love the graphic print on it:

~~~

dear god, i hate myself

2010-03-22T02:35:00.007-04:00

it's funny how clearly i remember first finding out about xiu xiu: one of their tracks appeared on a punk rock sampler i bought for $1 at vans warped tour many years ago. at the time, i was struck by how it was different from anything i'd heard before; i didn't know what to make of it, but that track eventually grew on me.

since then, i've had this love/hate thing for xiu xiu's material: sometimes, i think their stuff is different and intriguing, and i love all the subtle sounds embedded within; other times, i find their stuff weird and art-school pretentious, and i don't understand it at all.

singer jamie stewart contributed some vocals on the most recent los campesinos album. i think i can hear some of his haunting shouting (at around 1:29) on the track "the sea is a good place to think of the future", one of my favourites on that disc.

los campesinos - the sea is a good place to think of the future

i went back to listening to some xiu xiu. meh, i still found it weird.

last month, they released their seventh album "dear god, i hate myself". i was tempted to buy that album for the title alone. i checked it out, and the first two tracks instantly hooked me; i knew i had to get this. but hmv megastore and cheap thrills didn't stock it (yet?), and i was too lazy to search for it at other shops.

earlier this week, on my way to my parents' place, i made a short detour to hmv fairview and bought their one copy.

i must say, this is one of the more minimal (i.e. cheap) packaging i've seen. a simple digipak, no booklet, no label on the disc itself:

but it did come with a code for some bonus tracks, and a somewhat inappropriate sticker.

so i've been listening to this for the past couple of days. my favourite track is the opener, "gray death", which sounds almost like a pop song, compared to their usual experimental stuff.

xiu xiu - gray death

the second track is another highlight.

xiu xiu - chocolate makes you happy

by the third track, the album goes back into weird, experimental territory. but the title track is also not bad.

xiu xiu - dear god, i hate myself

edit: i just saw their videos for the new songs, and they're kind of messed up [not safe for work]. actually, i am not so surprised by those videos. after all, xiu xiu did sell a super deluxe version of this album that included a t-shirt printed with their blood.

~~~

the brutalist bricks

2010-03-19T10:41:00.000-04:00

last week, ted leo & the pharmacists released their sixth album "the brutalist bricks". need i repeat that i am a fangirl? of course i got this cd.

the band is pretty consistent, so this sounds a lot like their previous material. simple, unpretentious, fun.

oh, and they recently did a cover of "everybody wants to rule the world" by tears for fears. awesome.

~~~

north of america @ il motore

2010-03-06T20:38:00.000-05:00

[oops, been a little behind on my blogging...]

last week, blue skies turn black celebrated their 10-year anniversary with three nights at il motore. the gazette did a story on them.

i went to the third show, on saturday (february 27), with ryan. it was my first time at il motore. i liked the place; small and warm, it has a similar feel to the sala rossa.

there were four bands on the lineup, three of which were playing a reunion show that night. we got there early, as the doors were opening. during the wait time, they spinned mostly punk rock, stuff i used to listen to back in cegep (i recognized some propagandhi and fugazi). ah, memories.

unsurprisingly, the show started a half-hour later than listed. the first band to play were thundrah. it was a mix of indie/experimental/jazzy/electro rock. i liked it. i'd never seen anyone use a telephone like that before.

the second band to play was spengler. it was good, but more of the standard guitar-bass-drums kind of sound. after a while, i found it a bit boring...

the only reason i was there was to see north of america's reunion show. i first heard about them when they opened for ted leo back in 2005, where i had bought their last album, and ended up loving it. i hadn't listened to that album in a long time, until giving it a spin a few days before the show. ah, good memories.

i never use flash at shows because the flash on point-and-shoot cameras give a weird glow. but i happened to take this shot just as some guy's high-end flash went off, and the picture turned out good:

as expected, north of america gave an energetic performance. from the response, the crowd obviously loved them. stage banter was good; they made a joke about "the next one's from the new album!" and about being older. also, i found this youtube video where they mentioned that someone flew in from los angeles and from japan to see this show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDTlzqxtIF0

i only recognized a few songs, the ones from the last album. i was right in front of the stage, close enough to see the intended setlist:
wet to dance
cities and plans
let's get sick to our stomachs
now you've got your doctorate
fuck (repeating)
keep it on the download
font crimes
revolt on revolution
the fix is in
route of sorts
central port of...
speech is an...
rough draft korea
killed in the ratings

but after "the fix is in", they realized they only had 15 minutes left, so they cut out a couple of songs. out of those five last songs, they only played three, but i didn't recognize any of them, as they were all from the first album. still they ended up playing an hour-long set.

i would have liked for them to play a bit longer, but there was one last band on the lineup: rockets red glare. unfortunately, this show coincided with the nuit blanche events, so i had to miss the last band to meet up with friends downtown.

before leaving, i checked out the merch table. north of america had some cassette tapes on sale. i guess there's still a demand for tapes in the diy scene?

~~~

hearing damage: thundrah and spengler were loud. i had cheap foam earplugs that were not sufficient to block out the low bass vibrations. surprisingly, north of america's set was not as loud as i expected, so i was able to enjoy their set without earplugs.

~~~

vitalic @ sat

2010-03-01T18:20:00.003-05:00

last thursday (february 25), i met with rox to see vitalic, live at sat. this was my first electro show, and i wondered if the audience would be more raver or more hipster; it turned out to be the latter.

we got there early, but it did not matter since they did not open the doors until 10:00pm. i'd only been there once before, and i kind of liked the place: open, spacious, minimal modern design. we sat through the first set (dj mini) even though the music was good; it was relatively early in the show and we wanted to keep our energy. by the second set (jordan dare), i was bored, so we started dancing.

finally, vitalic was on at 1:00am, which i found late, compared to the usual indie rock shows i attend. to be honest, i am not familiar enough with his material to recognize the songs; the tracks were mixed and it all sounded more or less the same to me. still, i had a pretty good time dancing, sweating, and getting my workout for the week. i was disappointed at the poor ventilation in the venue; it was super crowded and stuffy.

the highlight for me was near the end of the set, when he played my favourite track "second lives" and "my friend dario", back-to-back.

vitalic ended at 2:15am. mini and dare returned for an additional set, supposedly until 3:00am. but we were feeling pretty tired at that point, so we left. since the metros were not running anymore, we went searching for a 24-hour café; we found the presse-café on saint-denis, corner of ontario. we chilled there for a while, until cabbing it home at around 4:00am. so sleepy...

there are some videos of the show posted on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vitalic+sat+montreal

yeah, it was loud. but my ears didn't ring afterwards.

i also found this amazing photoset on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karelchladek/sets/72157623517054480/

as my first electro show, i'd say it was a good experience. it was fun!

~~~

owen pallett @ théâtre outremont

2010-02-22T22:15:00.001-05:00

i realized that the last time i saw owen pallett play as final fantasy, it was four years ago.

on saturday night, he played a sold out show at théâtre outremont, as part of the montreal high lights festival. i went with cynthia and manna.

i got to the venue early; second in line. started chatting with the first guy in line, who came from boston for the night, for the show. that's some dedicated fan. and he's only been into owen pallett's stuff since last fall.

it turned out to be a seated show, which was nice and comfortable for this kind of music. of course, we got very good seats, front and centre. during the wait, i chatted some more with the guy from boston, who gave me a list of bands to check out.

the opening act was diamond rings. i had never heard of this guy before, so what a surprise when he appeared on stage: half-shaven head, dramatic eye makeup, face glitter, denim jacket with back patch, chunky silver belt, leopard print leggings, purple socks, purple hi-tops. this guy is a cliché of the late-70's/early 80's punk/new wave style; i doubt he was even born at the time. he punched the air for dramatic effect, and busted out some awkward 80's dance moves.

the music was pretty good, consisting of either synth or guitar, with a catchy beat. his act is so kitsch that it's full of awesome.

owen pallet's act was introduced with a clip of an alicia keys song. haha, it set the tone for the night, i guess.

he was accompanied by guitarist/percussionist thomas gill:

as always, i was impressed by the way he plays the violin: playing into a loop pedal, building a song layer by layer, plucking and tapping the strings, tapping the body for a percussions effect, even yelling into his violin for those faraway-sounding vocals.

i love that he mixed his set with old and new songs. he played most of my favourites, such as "this lamb sells condos":

as well as "e is for estranged", which ended abruptly when he pressed the wrong button and everything stopped. "oops," he said, and shrugged it off.

during the encore, when he started with the first few beats of the second song, i internally skrieked like a little girl. mariah carey's "fantasy" is a guilty pleasure, a song i loved so much when i was a little girl that i learned the lyrics and everything. and he does a really good cover of that.

he ended the show with a second encore, playing "he poos clouds", a song that makes me think of chase scenes in video games set in medieval times.

setlist:
love song to an empty room
midnight directives
this lamb sells condos
flare gun
the butcher
many lives -> 49 mp
took you two years to win my heart
e is for estranged
this is the dream of win & regine
keep the dog quiet
mt. alpentine
the great elsewhere
honour the dead or else
lewis takes action
lewis takes off his shirt

encore:
the man with no ankles
fantasy (mariah carey cover)

encore 2:
he poos clouds

~~~

dollar bin

2010-02-21T15:32:00.001-05:00

i didn't think "dollar" bins still existed, but i saw one at hmv when i was there earlier this week. i know it looks a little pathetic, but i did spend some time digging through the piles, which consisted mostly of: awful rap albums, abstract artsy fartsy nondescript albums, and dated dance albums.

out of all that, i found these:

yes, for a dollar each. to be honest, i didn't know much about these albums, but at that price, i thought i'd give them a try.

the dandy warhols - are sound

this album is in fact the original mix of their 2003 release "welcome to the monkey house", which i already have. as a casual listener, "are sound" feels redundant. meh. i'll have to listen to the two back-to-back for comparison.

nic endo - cold metal perfection

i was expecting some digital hardcore, similar to her work with atari teenage riot. but it turned out to be more ambient/experimental. the kind of background music you'd hear at some art installation.

the cd includes the video for "white heat". it's so awesome, i must link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bN14upNp6U

~~~

scratch my back

2010-02-19T11:42:00.000-05:00

impulse purchase.

since january, i've been watching l'univers musiqueplus almost daily. on tuesday's episode, during le débat critique, co-host nicolas tittley presented peter gabriel's most recent release "scratch my back", describing it as "un album de reprises qui ne suce pas".

i had never listened to peter gabriel's music before, nor his stuff with genesis, so i am unfamiliar with his material. but after checking out his cover of regina spektor's "après moi", it was enough for me to get this cd.

it's very nice. the string arrangements are beautiful.

my favourite track is "après moi". i am including the original here for comparison.

peter gabriel - après moi

regina spektor - après moi

after listening to the whole album, another track that i like is "my body is a cage". to be honest, i like it even more than the original version.

peter gabriel - my body is a cage

arcade fire - my body is a cage

~~~

heligoland

2010-02-16T18:09:00.004-05:00

massive attack's first studio album in seven years, "heligoland", was released last week.

i've never been a "massive" fan, but i do enjoy their music. it's moody, cold, and slightly sinister. the perfect soundtrack to some dark dream.

~~~

romance is boring

2010-01-27T00:13:00.004-05:00

today was the north american release date for the new los campesinos! album "romance is boring". i resisted listening to any of the leaks online. i love this band blindly; i would buy anything they release. so i went to hmv after having lunch with my friend.

the cover art is boring, but this music is so much fun to listen to.

~~~

kaleidoscope

2010-01-26T17:53:00.004-05:00

i've been listening to some electro lately. today, i got tiësto's recent release "kaleidoscope".

i love that the collaborators on this release are not usually associated with the electro genre, which makes the resultant tracks interesting.

one of my favourites is the opening title track , featuring jónsi of sigur rós:

i also like "feel it in my bones", featuring tegan & sara:

~~~

contra

2010-01-14T16:59:00.004-05:00

i had only heard about vampire weekend from the many mentions on pitchfork. but i had not checked out their music, until rox wrote about their song "horcata". and yeah, it's a damn catchy song.

their album "contra" was released this week. i got it after school today. it came with a bonus "contra megamelt" cd.

i'm not sure how to describe this album. for some reason, it makes me think of a lazy day at the beach. which is what i need now, in this cold and grey winter season.

~~~

heartland

2010-01-13T20:29:00.003-05:00

first cd purchase of the year!

yesterday, the new final fantasy/owen pallett album "heartland" was released. i got it on my way back home.

i love the simplicity of the front and back covers.

unfortunately, i haven't had the chance to listen to this too much. been too busy with school work (i.e., i procrastinated all week, and now i need to prepare for my meeting with my advisor tomorrow).

~~~

cd storage

2010-01-13T10:27:00.004-05:00

i've had overflow for a while, so i finally got additional storage for my cd's.

i bought the red unit from my brother's co-worker. it's in really good condition, like new. this should last me for a while...

~~~

end of the year 2009

2009-12-22T16:31:00.004-05:00

i only bought 25 new releases this year.

these are my favourites, in alphabetical order.

asobi seksu - hush
song: me & mary

beirut - march of the zapotec / realpeople holland
song: the shrew

song: my night with the prostitute from marseille

beware of safety - dogs
song: the supposed common

depeche mode - sounds of the universe
song: wrong

dumas - rouge
song: un train dans la nuit

gifts from enola - from fathoms
song: weightless frame

indochine - le république des meteors
song: un ange à ma table

isis - wavering radiant
song: 20 minutes/40 years

matthew good - vancouver
song: fought to fight it

mono - hymn to the immortal wind
song: everlasting light

patrick wolf - the bachelor
song: oblivion

pierre lapointe - sentiments humains
song: les lignes de ma main

placebo - battle for the sun
song: battle for the sun

regina spektor - far
song: eet

thursday - common existence
song: last call

vnv nation - of faith, power and glory
song: the great divide

yann perreau - un serpents sous les fleurs
song: le plus beau rêve

~~~

thursday @ foufounes électriques

2009-12-13T14:17:00.006-05:00

last sunday (dec. 6), thursday played at the foufounes électriques. i had hesitated to attend, since i'd be going by myself. also, i wasn't sure how rough the crowd would be, given the band's hardcore roots, and the fact that the dillinger escape plan were opening.

i went back to listening to "full collapse", and remembered how much i love this album. i can't believe it was released 8 years ago... so i ended up going to the show. i had never been to that venue before. it's small and cozy, with a cool decor, in that industrial kind of way. i really liked it.

the first band to play was endless hallway. this was the skinniest band i'd ever seen. the music was not memorable. they seemed to be trying too hard.

the second band was fake problems. i'm not sure how they fit with the rest of the lineup, since their sound was more rock & roll/garage. these guys had a good sense of humour, and they seemed to be genuinely enjoying their time on stage. it was a fun set that got people dancing.

i checked out their myspace page after the show, and recognized two songs that they played: "the dream team" and "diamond rings".

the next band to play was the dillinger escape plan. i don't know why these guys are opening, since most of the people seemed to be there for them. i had not heard their music before, but had some idea that they were associated with the hardcore genre. good thing i picked a standing spot on the side of the stage. as soon as they started playing, there was a sudden influx of dudes to the center of the floor and the moshing started. i think this was my first time seeing a "real" mosh pit, the kind that looks like a group fight, including some stage diving by the audience and band members.

this was not the kind of music i usually listen to, but i was pretty intrigued; they have some interesting sounds. and i was really impressed at how intense their set was.

by the time thursday played, a lot of people had left. ah well, more standing space then. the crowd was pretty tame for this set, but the band still gave a good performance.

i hadn't followed them for years, so i only recognized a couple of songs from "full collapse", and a few from the newest "common existence". still, i was glad i went to the show; it was fun. my favourite part was when they played "paris in flames" followed by "understanding in a car crash".

setlist (via setlist.fm):
for the workforce, drowning
between rupture and rapture
the other side of the crash
paris in flames
understanding in a car crash
ressucitation of a dead man
friends in the armed forces
at this velocity
division st.
circuits of fever
beyondthe visible spectrum
signals over the air

encore:
jet black new year

i found two videos on youtube, of the first and last songs of the set. pretty good view too.

~~~

hearing damage: the dillinger escape plan set was loud. thursday's was alright, except for a moment during "circuits of fever" when it got so loud i found it unpleasant. the next day, i woke up with some residual ringing in my ears. i know, i am getting old.

~~~

dumas - traces

2009-12-04T14:54:00.005-05:00

i still have that gift card (for my birthday) from a month ago that i hadn't started spending yet.

earlier this week, i passed by hmv and saw another new album "traces" by dumas. i wasn't expecting this, since i thought his series was done. but the 13 tracks on this album are numbered from 44 to 56, so it was obviously a continuaton. however, the titles were very familar, so i sampled a few songs at the listening station, and realized that these were re-arranged versions of the same songs taken from his last releases. i was confused: was this a compilation, remix album, what?

it turns out that this album contains the final mix of the songs. i guess his previous outputs were kind of like (well produced) demos or something.

i got the cd yesterday, and have listened to it a couple of times.

my favourite track is "un train dans la nuit (café froid, gardénal)". i even like this version better, with the additonal stringed instruments and all:

~~~

brand new @ l'olympia

2009-11-23T15:50:00.005-05:00

on friday, it was the brand new show at l'olympia. i went with sherlock. it was my first time at that venue. it was nice.

the first opening band was crime in stereo. their set was short (20 minutes), and not very memorable. i only remember thinking 'generic alterna/pop-punk'.

the next band was glassjaw. i first heard about them when they released their first album; i was in high school.

i must say, singer daryl palumbo was very energetic, moving around the stage a lot, with a manic look on his face. in between songs, he kept making birthday wishes for bassist manuel carrero, but there must be some kind of inside joke going on, since he called out different ages each time.

i would have enjoyed this set a lot more if i knew any of the songs. since i was unfamiliar with their material, i had a hard time following, with all the tempo changes and all.

finally, brand new came on, with a large screen on the background, showing some avant-guarde silent film throughout the whole set. their album "deja entendu" is a guilty pleasure of mine. but i never took the time to really listen to their stuff, so i didn't know the songs enough to sing along and enjoy the show to the max.

they played my favourite "sic transit gloria..."; they got that one out of the way near the beginning. near the end, they played another old song i like (but had forgotten about) "jude law".

setlist (via setlist.fm):
welcome to bangkok
sink
degausser
you won't know
okay i believe you, but my tommy gun don't
sic transit gloria... glory fades
the quiet things that no one ever knows
limousine
vices
gasoline
sowing season (yeah)
you stole
in a jar
luca
the archer's bows are broken
jesus christ
bought a bride
at the bottom
jude law and a semester abroad
seventy times seven
play crack the sky

i had brought my camera, but didn't take it out since i didn't have a good view of the stage. also, the crowd was kind of rowdy; this was my first time seeing some moshing since that gogol bordello show from two years ago. i was standing at the edge of the pit, so it was alright.

i found a pretty good set of pictures from the show on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oliverchank/sets/72157622847795046/

and there are some videos on youtube.

~~~

cd purchase: i was debating whether to get their latest "daisy"; i thought i'd get it if the show impressed me enough. but i thought it was just alright; nothing bad about it, but not the best i've been to either. so no purchases for me.

hearing damage: from the moment brand new started, i had found it was too loud. by the end of the show, my ears were ringing. i told my cousin that if i cannot sleep off the ringing in one night, then it means that i am too old for show. well, i woke up the next day with some residual ringing in my ears. crap.

~~~

frustration plantation

2009-11-12T14:41:00.004-05:00

earlier this week, i got a ride back in town with mom on her way to work. she dropped me off near her workplace, at cremazie metro. i went to plaza st-hubert; i hadn't been in that area in a while. i had forgotten how many bridal shops are there...

i do remember there being a music shop, and i made sure to browse their selection even though i wasn't looking for anything in particular. i saw rasputina's "frustration plantation", but i couldn't rememeber if this was a studio album or remix ep or compilation... i saw that it contained two discs, so i got it.

now, the only studio album i am missing is "cabin fever". when i got home, i listened to all the albums in order. "how we quit the forest" remains my favourite.

~~~

noodler's ink

2009-10-26T16:55:00.006-04:00

along with my purchase of a new fountain pen, i bought some new ink.

i kept hearing about noodler's ink, with their bulletproof black. since i was running out of the parker quink that i'd been using for a while, i got a bottle of the noodler's to try it out.

i also did a rough test of the waterproof properties, comparing the two inks. the paper was submerged briefly in water:

wow, pretty good.

at $18 a bottle, i found the noodler's a bit pricey. but it turns out that the bottle is large (3 oz.), so the value is quite good, with the same cost per ml as the parker quink.

~~~

taqwacore

2009-10-22T15:40:00.002-04:00

on tuesday, i went to cinéma du parc with rox for the film "taqwacore: the birth of punk islam".

i really liked this film. it's amaxing to think that this whole movement started from a guy who wrote a fictional novel, a book that inspired people to make it real.

the director was there for a q&a session after the screening. i felt a bit sad that we were less than 20 people in the audience.

i'd never bought music in digital form before. but after the screening, i liked the music so much that i bought the soundtrack in mp3 form, on a usb key.

~~~

vancouver

2009-10-22T12:58:00.004-04:00

i passed by hmv on tuesday. i saw the new matthew good album "vancouver". i hadn't known about any new material until rox told me about it about a month ago. i had been underwhelmed with his previous release "hospital music", so even though i knew the new songs were streaming for free from his website, i hadn't checked them out.

at the store, i sampled a few songs at the listening booth. i was immediately hooked with the opening track:

last parade

i love when he uses the piano in his songs. i skipped to the next track, and i love it just as much:

the boy who could explode

from those two tracks alone, i got the cd.

overall, i really like this album. a lot of piano and strings, which is what i liked so much from his debut solo "avalanche".

another highlight for me is a "rock" track with some punch:

fought to fight it

~~~

lamy al-star purple

2009-10-21T11:36:00.003-04:00

a shiny new toy for me! i got my first lamy earlier this year, as a self-gift for submitting my thesis, and was super impressed at how well it writes. it is a well-priced pen that writes amazingly well, with a modern design and comes in many colours, which makes it easy to collect.

last week, i had passed by the pen shop and took a look at the lamy display case. what's that i see, a purple al-star? i had never seen that colour before. it doesn't even appear on the corporate website.

yesterday, i passed by the pen shop again. i talked with the vendor, and it turns out that it's a new colour. i decided to get it as a self-gift for my birthday.

the purple is a rich grape colour. the pen is a bit heavier than the safari, is cool to the touch, and writes excellently as well.

~~~

emilie autumn @ le studio

2009-10-12T21:16:00.002-04:00

on saturday, i went to the emilie autumn show, on a whim. when i passed by the venue in the afternoon to get my ticket, i noticed some people already in the line-up. by the time i arrived twenty minutes before the doors time, the line-up had already gone around the block. oh my, i didn't realize she had such a following. i had gone to the show alone. while waiting in the line-up, i met a brother-sister duo who were nice enough to let me hang out with them during the show.

emilie performed with the bloody crumpets, a group composed of: aprella, the blonde doll; captain maggots, the crazy pirate; contessa, the cannibal; veronica, the raven-haired seductress.

the show started 45 minutes late, and lasted for about two hours. it felt more like watching a play or a musical rather than a concert. there was a set on stage: a clock-like screen in the middle, an elaborate tea set and candles on the right, more candles on the left, trinkets hanging from above.

each woman played a character, and many songs were introduced by a little skit. of those that i remember (and captured on video by various people in attendance; none of these vids are mine):

contessa introduced each of the bloody crumpets, with their reason for being in the asylum. veronica told us about the canadian welcome they got at the border: drug-sniffing dogs, which they did not appreciate. as an intro to "shalott", emilie autumn asked the audience for a voice warm-up, and chanted "fuck youtube". at a certain point, things got a little crazy, where muffins and cookies, with "tea" was thrown at the audience. before "unlaced", emilie autumn was upset at veronica for not practicing the harpsichord. after playing "unlaced" with supposedly only two mistakes, veronica was allowed to play "the rat game", where she chose a girl from the audience to go on stage and give her a kiss (a girl with angel wings got picked). veronica also explained that it is okay for a lady to swear if she adds "indeed" at the end of the sentence. as an intro to "god help me", contessa invited the audience for a prayer. captain maggots performed the spongebob squarepants song before "misery loves company".

each of the bloody crumpets also demonstrated her special skill during the talent portions of the show: veronica did a feather dance during "dominant". during "unlaced", maggots performed on stilts while aprella did some pointework. on another song, maggots also did some neat tricks with a hoola hoop. during "306", contessa did some aerial acrobatics with rope/fabric hanging from the ceiling.

songs that i remember:
4 o'clock
opheliac
liar
the art of suicide
i want my innocence back
shalott
dominant
unlaced
god help me
misery loves company
i know where you sleep
306
face the wall
bohemian rhapsody
thank god i'm pretty

there are more videos on youtube.

i am usually into shows that are more "authentic". but every once in a while, it's fun to go to a show for entertainment purposes. this was definitely such a show, with a set on stage, the many skits, the various performances, the characters, the costumes (colourful hair, feathers, hats, and other hair accessories, doll makeup, corsets, stockings, lots and lots of sequins and glitter, etc). even if, at times, it felt a little gimmicky, on the verge of being almost cheezy, it was still a fun show, different from the typical indie shows i've attended with blasé hipsters.

at least, there was one song where emilie showed her musical talent, the instrumental track "face the wall". she even said: "the truth is, this is what i really do", just to remind us that she is a musician, after all. i really liked that piece, and the way she played her instrument, with a crazy intense look in her eyes. it made me realize that as much fun as all the extra performance stuff is, it would have been really nice to see a solo music show as well.

~~~

moleskine notebooks

2009-10-02T18:32:00.003-04:00

since i left a pretty decent job to get back to my studies, i told myself not to mess this up.

as a motivation, i splurged, and went shopping at nota bene (what a cool shop!) to get my first moleskine notebooks.

on the right, the folio will be the main notebook, keeping track of my research. at 100g/m^2, the paper is thicker than the usual office multi-purpose, which makes it really nice to write on.

in the middle, the plain notebook will be used to scribble, to take all the messy notes during meetings with the prof. i should get into the habit of carrying it everywhere so that i can take random notes anytime.

on the left, in red, is the planner, to get organized, of course.

i know it's ridiculous, but that's $80 in notebooks. i'm usually good with money, but this was something i got to make myself feel better.

now, i am armed to tackle the phd.

~~~

mono @ latulipe

2009-10-02T14:44:00.001-04:00

the popmontreal fest is taking place now. last night i went to the mono show at cabaret latulipe. it was my first time seeing them, having missed them every time they were in montreal in the past. i went alone; i can't believe my mom still freaks out about me going to shows by myself.

i went to the venue early, and got a good spot. front and centre.

the opening band was maserati. kind of typical post-rock, but with a touch of prog? i really liked it. i had thought they were loud; but it turned out they were just a warm-up compared to mono.

i'm not too familiar with their material, so not sure what their setlist was. but the highlight for me was definitely "show me the season", especially the drumming at the end. here's a taste from an other show.

i was introduced to mono by a fellow mogwai fan (thanks dude!). since i had missed a couple of the past shows in montreal, i had gotten their dvd "the sky remains the same as ever" as consolation. instead, it made me feel bad, since their live set looks incredibly awesome. this time, i was determined to attend the show (by the way, if i had not left the job, i would have been out of town this week...).

what can i say? on record, mono sound epic. live, the experience is even more intense. their tracks usually start off pretty mellow. then there's the slow buildup, so gradual, that eventually, it becomes a noise explosion and you wonder how it all started.

this band is so cool. as in, their music is perfect for winter, when everything is covered in white. it seemed fitting that i was seeing them live on one of the first cold days of this fall season. they also seem so cool that they're in their own zone on stage. no chit-chat between songs; notice the absence of a mic.

my favourite part was during "yearning", when it all went quiet, then the sudden noise explosion, like getting punched in the stomach, followed by several minutes of aural assault. awesome. i don't know to else to describe it. it's one of those things you need to be there to experience for yourself.

setlist:
ashes in the snow
burial at sea
follow the map
pure as snow
yearning
the battle to heaven
halo
everlasting light

~~~

cd purchases: i got the mono albums that i was missing "under the piapl tree" and "walking cloud and deep red sky...". i also got a maserati album "inventions for the new season".

hearing damage: i was prepared, and bought earplugs for this show. i wore them for about half a song when i remembered why i never wear earplugs at shows: i hate the muffled sound. it's bad, i know, but i'd rather hear everything even if it means letting my ears get blasted.

~~~

radiohead

2009-10-02T13:45:00.000-04:00

on my same visit to hmv, i saw that they are having some kind of sale on the re-releases of radiohead's first three albums: "pablo honey", "the bends", and "ok computer". i call those their "rock" albums; it's the only radiohead that i could really get into. they were selling the 2-disc version for $7 each and the 3-disc version for $13 each.

oh wow. i knew i had to get them. the 3-disc version, of course.

each disc comes in a cardboard sleeve. the booklets are exactly the same as the original versions. with each album, there are cards showing the cover of the singles and ep's. everything is housed in a cardboard box. alright packaging.

~~~

au bout du monde

2009-10-02T13:37:00.000-04:00

a bit of a cd shopping spree.

i am now unemployed, having left my job to go back to school. except that i am not officially registered until january 2010. so i have a couple of months of free time.

hier, je suis passée par hmv mégastore, puisque j'étais dans le coin. surprise, un nouvel album de dumas, intitulé "au bout du monde":

on dirait la conclusion à la série:

~~~

beware of safety + caspian

2009-09-29T21:46:00.004-04:00

so it's been a while (more than a month!) since i bought new music...

my order from the mylene sheath came by mail yesterday:

the cd's are:
beware of safety - dogs
caspian - tertia

extra goodies included are:
caspian sticker and pin
the mylene zine issue 1

a post-rock package that is perfect for this beginning of fall.

i had heard about beware of safety as "the supposed common" was the one track that stood out for me on the mylene sheath sampler i got with my gifts from enola purchase. i checked out the rest of their album, free to download/stream from gimmesound.

then, when i heard about caspian's new release this fall, i ordered both from the label's website. the new caspian is also free to download on gimmesound.

[plug: please do download some music from gimmesound, as it supports the artists and a charity of their choice.]

at first listen, i was not too impressed with the new caspian, since i was expecting something more epic (like their older material) and they seemed to have gone for the 'subdued' route on this one. in comparison, the beware of safety seemed more 'dynamic', with the alternating loud/soft sounds.

now, with multiple listens of "tertia", i am discovering new subtleties each time. i love it!

~~~

the bachelor

2009-08-15T20:52:00.006-04:00

i was practically drooling on my way home from work on wednesday, after buying the new patrick wolf release "the bachelor". i am such a fangirl.

yeah, i know, it was released in the uk a couple of months ago, and it had leaked online before that. but i didn't listen to any of it. except for the first single "vulture", when i saw the video. i was a little surprised with that song (it sounds different from his previous material), and not too impressed with that video.

i've been listening to the album on repeat for the past few days. i quite like it. it's consistent with his previous material; there are elements in several songs that remind me of each of his previous albums. for example, "count of casualty" has the electro beats and samplings of "lycanthropy", "the sun is often out" has the melancholic strings of "wind in the wires", and "blackdown" has the cheerful party mood of "the magic position".

a few interesting contributors on this album: narration by tilda swinton on "oblivion", "thickets", and "theseus", which are incidentally some of my favourite tracks. and alec empire's influence is apparent on "vulture" and "battle", two songs that don't work too much for me; after mutiple listens, i am starting to like "vulture", but am still trying to digest "battle".

i must say, i find that cover kind of ridiculous, even more so are some of the pictures in the booklet.

so the second single is "hard times"; great song, good beats, easy to sing along too. but not impressed with that video either; for some reason, it makes me think of fischerspooner (maybe it's the face paint, or the platinum blonde pompadour, or the costumes?).

~~~

nouvelle vague

2009-08-08T17:00:00.004-04:00

last saturday (august 1st), i met up with k, the only high school friend i've kept in touch with with. still, i had not heard from her for two years, since she's left for toronto for her studies.

we had some dinner, then walked around for a bit. the francofolies were taking place, so we checked that out. we stayed for a performance by a band called french kiss. interesting, with the electronic harp, and the improv piece they did.

in the marketplace area, i had to check out the music booth (archambault). i tried to resist buying, but in the end, i got the nouvelle vague self-titled debut album. i really like what they do, covering new wave songs in a jazz style.

my favourite track on this album is "guns of brixton", originally recorded by the clash. i already love the original so much.

~~~

moleskine planners 2010

2009-08-01T10:59:00.005-04:00

a recent purchase of moleskine planners: the weekly notebook planner in red hardcover, and the colour a month daily planner in 12 notebooks, which is new this year.

it's so colourful!

as for the rigid black cover, the pocket opens upwards.

~~~

vnv nation @ le national

2009-07-26T14:09:00.003-04:00

ah, i almost forgot to blog about this: the vnv nation show at le national, on wednesday, july 15. i drove to donwtown right after work, meeting with rox and her friend alex.

the first act was ayria, from toronto. i had checked out some of her music when i saw her name in the lineup for kinetik festival, and liked her most recent album. live, she was accompanied by two other musicians. the music sounded pretty much the same as on the studio release. she tried hard to work the crowd, but i felt the stage was a bit too large for her act, and the venue was a bit empty during her set.

the second openers were war tapes. meh. not sure how they fit with the rest of the lineup, since they were more of a rock band. a couple of their songs reminded me of, um, the bravery, which is not such a good thing. i do applaud the singer for his energy, as he shoved his face into the audiences' and shouted his lyrics.

(it turns out war tapes had some gear stolen right after the show that night. seems like the n-th time i hear about gear theft in montreal. wtf?)

i would not call myself a vnv nation fan, since i've only heard their albums once. but i do like the kind of electro/lite-industrial music they produce. it's kind of happy, and nice to dance to. i was surprised at how humourous the singer is, as he cracked jokes in between songs. good stage banter.

i am not familiar enough with their material to recognize any songs. i took a picture of the setlist; here's what they played:

pro victoria
joy
sentinel
epicentre
in defiance
further
tomorrow never comes
chrome
illusion
standing
darkangel
solitary
nemesis

encore:
the great divide
fearless

encore 2:
beloved
perpetual

~~~

cd purchases: i got ayria's most recent album "hearts for bullets", in the deluxe version, which includes a bonnus disc, a sticker, a postcard, a mini-poster, and a cheap plastic bracelet. i also got vnv nation's most recent "of faith, power and glory".

~~~

beirut @ metropolis

2009-07-20T17:18:00.002-04:00

on saturday of the last weekend (july 11), there was the beirut show, that was part of the jazz fest (even though they are not jazz as all). i went with rox and glo.

rox has already posted a detailed entry about the show, so i'll be lazy and post a few pictures instead.

the openers were the dodos. i had never heard of them before. i found them alright. for some reason, their music made me think of twee-pop (mostly because of the singer's soft-ish vocal style), but more upbeat.

we had already seen beirut before. this time, it was at a bigger venue, but there seemed to be less musicians on stage... and zach condon sang a song in italian; i realized that no matter in which language (english, french, italian) he sings, i cannot understand the lyrics.

they only played one song from the "realpeople holland" disc, "my night with the prostiture from marseille". i really liked how they translated the electronic sounds to the accordion.

a clip of "postcards from italy":

they ended with "la llorona". i realized that not only does that track make a good album opener, it also makes a great show closer; it's so dramatic.

~~~

regina spektor, dumas

2009-07-20T17:17:00.001-04:00

before the beirut show last week, during the afternoon, i went by hmv to get regina spektor's new album, "far", that was released last month. i got the cd+dvd version, of course.

while at the store, i also saw dumas' new album, "demain", a continuation of the series. from the overall picture, it seems like there will be another release.

even though it's been a week, i haven't had much time to listen to these new purchases yet...

~~~

the ok thing to do on sunday afternoon is to toddle in the zoo

2009-07-01T18:08:00.000-04:00

on my last day in shanghai, in the morning, i visited the mall near the hotel. there was a bookshop there with a music section. i checked out their selection: hk+taiwan pop, japanese+korean pop, western pop, chinese classical/folk.

i noticed that for the western music, these were all chinese versions, with chinese translations of the titles on the packaging.

it was similar for the hk+taiwan pop; the titles were all in simplified chinese. in this section, i spied the debut album "在動物園散步才是正經事" ("the ok thing to do on sunday afternoon is to toddle in the zoo") by my little airport. it was the only cd worth getting for me.

a lo-fi minimal twee pop kind of album, with songs mostly in english.

sample track: edward, have you ever thought that the end of the world would come on 20.9.01

in my opinion, their cantonese lyrics are far superior.

~~~

ciao!

2009-07-01T17:50:00.000-04:00

i had flown to shanghai with a connection in toronto. unfortunately, the toronto-shanghai flight was delayed by six hours. so i had some time to kill at the airport.

at one of the shops, there was a small music section. i saw tiga's latest "ciao!". i had seen his mock interview (part 1, part 2) a couple of weeks ago, found it funny, and had been meaning to check out the new album. so i bought it there.

i had loved his debut full length. this second album is a bit 'meh' in comparison. the so-called lyrics are laughable. there are a few fun tracks, such as "beep beep beep" and "shoes", but the rest is nothing groundbreaking.

~~~

ihha 2009

2009-07-01T16:28:00.005-04:00

last week, i was in shanghai to attend the ihha 2009 conference for work.

most of my days were spent at the convention center.

night view, front:

day view, river side:

the convention center was located in the hotel where i was staying. from my room, i also had a good view of the river:

along with the conference, there was an exposition held at another location, the soviet-style exhibition center:

the city of shanghai was gearing up for expo 2010. everywhere i went, i saw their blue mascot. what the heck is that thing supposed to be?

i had one day when i was free to do some sight-seeing. i started by visiting a pedestrian section of east nanjing road:

afterwards, i walked southwards, until reaching fuyou road, where i suppose is the beginning of old town:

i walked towards the yuyuan gardens. the surrounding neighbourhood was all pedestrian, with many shops, a tourist area:

the old style architecture seemed kind of artificial. certain sections were being restored:

for lunch, i had one of those "soup buns" i saw at many food stalls:

on my last day in shanghai, i took one last walk on the riverside promenade, next to the hotel. from there, i had a good view of the city center across the river. it was a bit grey that day:

at a nearby supermarket, i bought some snacks, some lays chips, in flavours i've never seen before:

overall, the conference was certainly an eye-opener, although i was not able to follow along with all the presentations. i will need to read the technical papers for more details.

the weather was too hot for me. good thing i stayed inside for most days.

~~~

from fathoms

2009-06-20T14:13:00.006-04:00

every time i think i'm "over" post-rock, i end up hearing something so epic or beautiful, that it gets me back into that post-rock mood again. that's what happened when i heard a leak of the new gifts from enola album "from fathoms". i immediately feel in love with track 2, "weightless frame", a piece that includes some electronic sounds (which makes me think of 65daysofstatic).

gifts from enola - weightless frame

after a few listens, i found myself really enjoying the whole album. so i ordered it online, directly from the label, the mylene sheath. they did a really good job with the packaging, making me wish i had a record player, so that i could buy that colourful vinyl. but no, i just got the cd version, in a nice oversized rectangular cardboard packaging.

this was my first time ordering from the mylene sheath, and will probably not be the last. their prices are good, even including the shipping. and they marked this package as a "gift", so i didn't have to pay any customs fees.

they included a sampler with my order, and i am liking a few of the tracks on that. i'll check out a few of their other releases, and find out what else interests me.

~~~

battle for the sun

2009-06-13T10:00:00.003-04:00

i've been employed since may 1st. but due to various circumstances, this week was my first week of métro-boulot-dodo. i am still trying to adjust.

on tuesday, it was the release of placebo's sixth studio album "battle for the sun", with a new record label (vagrant for the north american release). i've been a steady fan of this band since grade 9 (ah, about ten years ago). i've followed them with every album release. i don't think they're super impressive (standard rock with a catchy melody and distinct vocal style), but they've never disappointed either.

after work on tuesday, i went to hmv at fairview to get the cd. (yes, i am back to living in the west island now.)

overall, there are no surprises with this album, very consistent with their previous material, even though they've a new drummer now. i've been listening to this all week, on the drive to work and back, and found myself singing along like an idiot. yeah, the songs are really catchy.

my favourite is the title track.

~~~

isis

2009-06-05T12:19:00.005-04:00

since i started wokring, i've been in a bit of a post-rock mood (it helps me concentrate). which would explain my two impulse purchases of yesterday.

the first purchase was online; i will blog about it when it arrives in the mail.

on tuesday, i had gone to hmv to check out the new releases of the week. hm, not much of interest.

then, i saw a new album by isis. they're a band i've heard about. a couple of years ago, i heard the song "weight" from the 2002 album "oceanic", and loved it. but i couldn't really get into their other material. it was too heavy, the vocals too hardcore for my taste at the time.

the new album "wavering radiant" was available at the listening station at hmv, so i tried it out. unfortunately, the machine was somewhat defective (the forward skip button did not work), so i could only sample a few minutes from the first track.

yesterday, i visited their myspace page, where their song "20 minutes/40 years" was streaming. i really liked it. i guess i've been feeling kind of bored with the usual post-rock stuff, so i was really receptive to this heavier, more progressive type of music. even the hardcore vocals didn't bother me so much.

later yesterday, i had some time to kill before meeting with friends (to watch the movie "sin nombre". it was very good!). so i passed by hmv, and got the cd.

i am listening to this now. i am liking it a lot. it's different enough from my usual taste that it piques my interest. yet it's not too out there.

~~~

convocation

2009-05-26T18:10:00.008-04:00

after two years, i got my m.eng degree today.

i got the best graduation gift from my parents.

it's a montblanc fountain pen!!!

oh wow, i can't believe i got such a beautiful gift...!

~~~