This time, it's not me that's hot

Finally, a morning where I am not dripping in sweat just standing in my house.

Hallelujah!

Bit brain-dead (tired) after a late night with Blitzen Trapper. They played the Venue as the original venue, Richards, is now being turned into much needed (ha...sigh. I curse you Aquilini...) condos. To be fair, they have tried to improve the Venue's space - they have removed the completely annoying bar that was smack in the centre of the floor, and the carpet no longer sticks to your feet (well, not yet) like it did in the club's previous incarnation, The Plaza. That being said, it is still a lot more awkward a venue to see a band at (particularly if you don't feel like standing), and the ambient crowd noise is REALLY high. We ended up at our usual spot, right at the end of the balcony basically overhanging the stage, which really is not the ideal place sound-wise (your head is about 4 feet away from the flown speaker bank) but gives you a pretty good view. And the place was packed, which was great to see.

The band put on a great show, and the openers - the Quiet Ones - were a lot of fun too. I took a few videos, but my positioning was a bit awkward - not my best efforts, my framing is consistently whacky, but here is the beautiful title track from their fab second album, Furr...

Not feeling very coherent this morning, so let's be safe and leave it at that.

Cat Flatness

Seriously. ENOUGH already with this f$&king hot weather. I moved away from Toronto to get away from this nightmare.
I will never complain about rain again (ok, that's a lie...but for today, it's the truth)
signed,
Me and the Flat Cats

Folk Fest #2 - because there is ALWAYS more to share..

Not a particularly content-full post, but here we go. First, Vancouver's incorrigible Geoff Berner. I don't know if I can come up with a better word for him. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture his 2010 Olympic Theme Song ("The Dead Children Were Worth It!"), which you can hear here. He's a bit like the South Park of the festival - sometimes you can't believe what you are hearing, but nine times out of ten he's holding up a pretty effective (if uncomfortable..and funny...) mirror for us to peek into



Some lovely reeds (oh how I love you Jericho Beach Park)....

Geoff Berner, of course...

Steven Page on the main stage, in what must be his Special Pink & Blue Show Suit...

Some Bellowheads...

the Weakerthan's John K Samson...


and a rather handsome Breakman, just to cleanse the palate. Or something like that. And I will say this is a perfect example of how I FIGHT WITH THE FORMATTING in this stupid blog!! AUGH!! Any tips on how I can get photos and text to play well together, let me know.

Vancouver Folk Festival...here we go, brace yourself...

...for a long one.

I've been thinking for the morning how I'm going to break this one down. The Vancouver Folk Music Festival is hands down my favorite event in Vancouver. FAVORITE. If the weather is good, it is guaranteed to be two and a half days of sunburn/sunstroke, food from places with names like "The Preserved Seed Cafe" (cafe or sperm bank? Hmmmm), giggling at the colourfully clad interpretive dancers (who are not necessarily listening to any music you or I might be hearing), unusual relaxed friendliness, and GREAT music.

An Introduction to the VFMF:
I figured this year I would try and get the feeling of the place across with some visuals. A few stills, and then a couple of videos just to set the atmosphere: First, a quick 360 turn from beside the (controversial) new beer tent, with waving from my pals A & A, followed by a fantastic bit of dancing by a guy that is there, dancing to his own special tune, EVERY year:


Are you feeling it yet? Yes? Well, let's move on then...

Apparently I went with my sister...or ...?:
For the last few years, my partner in crime at the festival has been my dear pal A. We are about the same height and width, and take up roughly the same volume in the world. We both wear our festival cowboy hats, sit in our matching striped chairs (hers blue, mine pink) getting matching tank-top burns, with our similar sunglasses and identical cameras. At the festival, this means one of two things: to those that know only one of us, it means we must be sisters...one just being the pasty british version of her Chilean/Hungarian sibling I guess; for those that don't know at least one of us, it means we are A Couple. Not that we wouldn't make a pretty cute couple, I must say, but I'm guessing it does provide effective protection against meeting the man of my dreams there. I'm just saying.

The Music:
Now, this is the most important part of it all.

The lineup was really interesting this year - though still including some great classic folk & blues, and some fantastic international musicians, the focus shifted slightly towards acts that would appeal to a slightly younger crowd. The evening shows included Steven Page (who to his credit made some pretty funny self deprecating jokes about his drug related arrest and departure from the BNL), Iron & Wine, and the Weakerthans; and dotted throughout the weekend were personal faves the Great Lake Swimmers, Veda Hille, Rock Plaza Central, and Dan Mangan. So here we go with some highlights:

Holy crap, what was THAT? : Rev. Payton's Big Damn Band
Now, this video does NOT convey the monumentally imposing figures the Rev and his wife Breezy make. I wish I had more of their set. Particularly, the part when Breezy lights her washboard on fire and keeps playing through the flames. I'll be watching out for these guys, they were fantastic.



Yes, I know you know: Dan Mangan
I have spoken before about my Mang-on (I should add that the friend that accused me of that has subsequently changed it to Har-dan...or maybe I shouldn't add that...). Each time I see him perform I am floored by his talent, both as a songwriter and as a vocalist. And his charisma is...well, I defy you to find a grandma that wouldn't want to pinch those cheeks and feed him a bowl of soup, or a 20 year old that isn't hatching a plot to take out his girlfriend. And that, dear readers, is the mysterious combination that will move this young talent into the spotlight sooner rather than later. Mark my words. His new CD Nice, Nice, Very Nice will be released the second week of August. The tracks I have heard (either live or on the teaser EP released earlier this year) are fantastic, and if the stars are aligned as they should be, it will bring him the recognition he has long deserved.

And one day, one day, I will be able to listen to Basket without tearing up. Unfortunately, that one day was not yesterday.

I caught a bit of his workshop stage with his friend Mark Berube, and his fantastic solo set. (The still of him walking through the crowd is from the performance of Robots, which another lucky Fest goer videoed here) I should add that part of the delight of his solo set was that the enchanting Veda Hille sat in for a few songs, including these two:


Rock Plaza Central: Gimpy banjo? I don't think so...
Meet another band I am ridiculously passionate about. I can't quite pinpoint what it is that appeals to me so much - there's a rawness to it all, or an immediacy or something - that just grabs me. That, and Chris Eaton's incredible lyrics. Their new album ...at the moment of our most needing just came out, and it is absolutely fantastic. It was great to see them live in Vancouver with an audience of more than 50, and as Chris Eaton pointed out, somewhere where there seemed to be fewer crack addicts than the places they usually play. RPC played an absolutely fantastic workshop stage with Bellowhead and Geoff Berner - here's a glimpse of that magic:
They also played a fantastic solo set, during which Chris recounted that someone from the Breakmen asked him what style of banjo he played. He responded "gimpy". You be the judge:

I'm running out of steam now...but I will squeeze in another thing I loved - the Great Lake Swimmers. What a TREAT to see them at so many workshop stages, and for the most magical evening show, the band lit by the setting sun.

Gorgeous. Absolutely. And in every way.

Beautiful:

My NEW back garden (thanks Mel! - that's her on my back porch...)



Less that beautiful:

• rat face & tail, connected by a few entrails, found on the back path. Poop from satisfied coyote, found nearby.
• new loaner fridge, which is squished into my kitchen alongside my regular fridge. Sigh. This fridge saga is OBVIOUSLY not over...
• the lack of fence in the back yard (or rather, the stellar view of the alley & my car). Next year, next year.
  

WHiNE.

My day:

• 5:25 - Get up
• 7:10 - Grab lunch from freezer before heading to work
• 7:11 - Discover lunch isn't frozen; discover nothing in the freezer is frozen. Swear
  
• 7:14 - Misplace my bus pass; swear again
• 7:16 - Find bus pass. Go to work*
  
• 8:00 - Call Sears - they tell me they will be there "sometime between 8 am - 7pm". I tell them I have to leave my house at 5:00; they will make note of that
• 8:15 - Rush BACK from work, home just before 9am. Cats appear to be happy to see me, but can you really tell with cats?
  
• 9:50 - notice that there is a "missed call" from Sears at 8:15am, but no message.
• 10 - 11am: online meeting for work
• 11:05 - Mum stops by with freezer box.
  
• 11:10am - call Sears to clarify if there was a reason they called at 8:15am. Find out the tech has logged a note saying "left message that we are only available during the day, not after 5pm". AUGHHH.
• 3:50pm - Sears tech arrives, all smiles. After 10 minutes, tells me I have a Serious Problem. Gas Leak. Major Repair. Loaner Fridge Required. Sears will call me with details (I am still under warranty. I should be. The fridge is a month old)
• 3:58pm - find out that the tickets I bought for a band I don't know just so I could be there on Richards "last night" are actually NOT for the last night. The last night, they have decided, is the evening before. The band I don't know is now moved to the crap "Venue" (aka the Plaza). Sigh.
  
• 4:15 - cancel appointment at vet for 5:30 pm, as still haven't heard from Sears. Rebook for Friday night. Because I want to spend Friday night at the vets. Really.
  
• 4:30pm - go into kitchen to find raccoon attempting to break in through cat door, likely because he smells thawing food. Cats stare at door, goggle-eyed. Which, truthfully, makes me laugh.
  
• 4:30 - 5:15 - spend a lot of time pacing. It's a family trait.
• 5:30 - am pouring myself a drink and plan to stay still until this day is over.

*I have NO idea why I didn't call Sears before leaving for work. Really.

This was supposed to be joyful...

But I just read this. I know, I know, this horror has been on the horizon for at least two years, but it doesn't make it any easier. Richard's is hands down my favorite concert venue in this venue-deprived city. Small enough to feel intimate, big enough to have crowd-induced-energy, and with the most frightening washrooms in the city, it is (soon to be was...) pretty near perfect. I am not convinced that the "new" venue will come anywhere close (art galleries? not that I don't like art galleries...but really, art galleries?). I was really looking forward to seeing Blitzen Trapper at Richards. Sigh. Where will they be now? The Plaza? Sigh.

SO - I will try to regain some joy talking about what was, it seems, my LAST concert at Richards - Dirty Projectors.

As usual, we got their early (for the last time...sigh. OK, I'll stop). Sometimes when you are there before doors open, you will see the band members wander out of the club and out for dinner. We saw a bit more than that this time around. The band van was parked in front of our car, and Dave Longstreth and Angel Deradoorian wandered out and opened the back of the van, to rifle through their suitcases. Dave pulled out his show jeans, then turned around to see us, parked right behind him trying to look nonchalant - which doesn't deter him from taking his pants off. Once changed, he sits on the back of the van to tie his shoes, all the while staring exaggeratedly up into the air like a dark-eyed, slightly unbalanced version of one of Rafael's angels - a way, I suspect, of trying to pretend we weren't there. Meanwhile, we were pretending to face each other and not notice, ever the polite Canadians. (For those that care: boxers). A nice FINAL story about waiting to get into Richards...sigh.

When we finally did get inside, it didn't look promising from an attendance standpoint. I always fear the awkwardness of seeing a great band playing to 20 people in a venue that holds 20 times that. Luckily, by the time the band got on stage, the floor was full of happy, adoring fans.

And what a treat the show was. They are such a rhythmically and melodically complex band that things could easily go horribly wrong - but they are so GOOD that it doesn't. Dave Longstreth moved like a slightly distracted, jerky raptor across the stage, his crazy guitar lines just seeming so ... easy. So good. And the rest of the band? SO good. Crazy harmonies from the women. Great semi-naked drumming. And very, very happy audience.

Thanks, Dirty Projectors, for making my last (*sniff*) night at Dick's so great.

Camera #1

I've said it all before.

OK, maybe I didn't say "holy PIPES, my cultural luff!", so I will add that in.

If there is ever a CBC host Ultimate Fighting Cage Match, I now know who I'm betting on.

Pretty (handsome?) british things...

A low/no content post - a few pics of some nice british things.

garden, garden, garden...

I have a whopping headache so this will be brief...but I do have to share some of the new members of the family with the rest of the world.

The bunkle garden has been a long standing problem, and has been far from the focus of my time. I don't really have many "before" pictures (some here) because the before was not something I wanted to record. But the after - well, that's something else!

Over the last few weeks the lovely Mel has been ripping, digging, sawing, trimming, planting, and (I suspect) sweating. I didn't have any firm direction as to what I wanted, except something easy to look after. Every day, I'd come home and things would have changed. Significantly. It was so fun, and so exciting. All the planting was done when I was in London, so apart from rather excited emails from my mum and Mel, I had no idea what to expect. Needless to say, I loved it. So much, that I have asked Mel to turn her talents to the back nightmare...I mean, garden. Can't wait :)

I'm back.

Tired, but wearing my new wellibobs (more on those later)

Meet my new friend, Robin. We hung out for a bit. I invited him to visit my new front garden, but he says he's happy in Regents Park.

Apparently I'm related to a crazy person.

tuesday - the crying light
Originally uploaded by Matthew Burditt

Tell me something I don't already know - truthfully, she's one of many...

Off to England for a week - work trip, but I am not complaining. You never know, I may have a chance to post - stranger things have happened.

More exciting is that I will return to a completely revamped front garden! Can't wait...(thanks Mel!)

Am I really an "arsehole"?

(To those of you that immediately thought "wow - she's stating the obvious" ... hi friends! because you obviously know me well ;- )

So, this wonderful cyberworld is raising questions in my brain again.

Last night, I went to see the completely delightful Jens Lekman at Richards (which still has completely undelightful washrooms, despite the newly installed "washroom attendant"). The place was full, and the audience was keen to love the lovable Jens. The performance was bright and bouncy and wonderful (apparently he has the flu, but you'd never know). The audience was bright and bouncy and wonderful (pretty much). I wasn't feeling bright or bouncy when I went, but my world was re-bounced within the first 30 seconds of Jens taking the stage.

So what's the issue at hand?

Well, Jens, at the beginning of the gig, told the audience it was OK to film, but requested that the videos don't get posted on YouTube - "it should be a special evening just between you and me" being the basic idea. And I have to admit, it put a seed of doubt in my mind. I mused aloud to my brother after the gig and his response was "What about the shut-ins? What about people that will never have a chance to see him live?". He had a good point. I regularly forget about the shut-ins. But I admit, my hand hesitated as I hit "upload" onto YouTube this morning for a couple of the videos.

Low and behold, by the time I got to work, I had these two comments (from the same person):

You arsehole! He politely requested that people not upload the show onto YouTube.

I guess it was more important for you to look cool on YouTube than to for you to follow a simple request from Jens to not post the show. Nice.

When I told my brother, defender of the shut-ins til the day he dies, he responded with "tell him to fuck off". Once again, I think he kind of has a point...not that I would ever engage in an argument with the poster in question - but it has all made me think.

I do feel a bit crap about disregarding "the request of the artist" - but I spent a lot of time thinking of possible reasons why he'd make the request. Concern over poor performance? Shouldn't be that, as he was great. Concern that a good performance would come across as crap due to poor filming? I can see that I guess. Concern that the performance wouldn't be as "fresh" to the audience if they had heard his stories on YouTube before? I could see that too I suppose.

But here's the thing - in this cyber-age, artists have lost the ability to control what images get out there; it's a bit futile to try. The better thing to do, in my arseholeish opinion, is to embrace the changing landscape and see how you can use it to your advantage. I've had bands contact me thrilled to see the videos, wanting me to send the original file, or linking to the YouTube post on their own sites. And truthfully, in my mind fan videos on YouTube are a key part of spreading the love. If I like a band, I will always try to see footage of them live, and if that footage is good, it gets me that much more hungry to buy tickets to a show when they come to town ( I have actually gone to see bands pretty much based on my reaction to seeing footage of their live show - hello, Les Savy Fav!!). If the footage is crap, I think "oh, crap camera quality" but I never let it reflect on the quality of the performance. If the footage is great but the performance is crap - well, I guess you have a problem, band, but it goes far beyond your fan videos onYouTube.

So - maybe I am an arsehole. But I don't really think that, in this case, my being an arsehole is doing the lovely Jens any harm. Anyone watching the footage would be just as charmed as I was.

And as an aside, I love the idea that I'm posting videos to look cool on YouTube - I haven't looked cool anywhere else in a long time, so bully for me if that's the case. For those that care, the reasons I post are primarily 1) to help build an archive of what I've seen for my rapidly aging brain, and 2) to share the love with other fans. Though from now on, I'm going to post just to be cool, because I need all the help I can get.

And here, for those that care to watch and participate in my bad behaviour, are two from Jens:

The Craigsicle: the groaners are just too easy

..but this has just entered my list of things I would like to ... consume (how's that for a 'safe' word?).

You have to admit, he's pretty cool ... ;-)

Animal Collective vs Grizzly Bear

I really wish I had an opportunity to write this blog earlier in the week when my thoughts were still fresh, but DOXA and life got in the way. So, here goes what is likely a watered down version, muddied by too many documentaries...

Went to see Animal Collective early last week. I had very, very high expectations for this concert (*danger Will Robinson, put those expectations aside*), as did the rest of the sold out Commodore crowd. The opener, Grouper, didn't have a great time of it. It is hard to grab the attention of a crowd wired to see the headliner with a one-woman band producing what I think was supposed to be a rather delicate ambient soundscape - hard to tell as it was totally lost in the chatter of the audience. I don't usually talk when a band is on stage, but even I gave up trying to listen and figure it out. Wrong venue, wrong gig for her.

As for Animal Collective - my thoughts have been all over the place on this one. They are a hard band to categorize (a good thing). My favorite album, Sung Tongs, is an inventive mix of samples, acoustic guitar, some afro-beat-ish drumming, and layered vocals. It grabs me in a similar way to the Books' Thought for Food does. The new album, Merriweather Post Pavillion, has more driving, beat-ridden tracks - also excellent, but in a pretty different way. So - what about the show? The energy was great, the lighting design was fun, but they just didn't quite soar to the levels I had hoped - and I was really hoping, and maybe my expectations were just too high. They just didn't seem tight enough on some tracks (Lion in a Coma really suffered), and you lost some of the beauty of their layered vocals, with Panda Bear's softer voice getting lost from time to time. That being said, I still really enjoyed it, and when they hit their stride they really did hit it well.I did take some videos, but my camera was having fits due to the flashing lights, poor thing.
Then came Grizzly Bear a couple of nights later. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I loved it so much I can't really write about it sensibly. Their new album Veckatimest is fantastic - they have moved away somewhat from the low key ambience of Yellow House to something that has stronger rhythms, lush vocals and (gasp) some pretty hooky choruses. And it all came across brilliantly live. The vocal harmonies, Dan Rossen's sharp, bright guitar sound - oh forget it, I'm just going to sound like (more of) an idiot if I go on. Definitely one of the live music highlights of my year so far. Unfortunately, the security guards caught me taping during "While you Wait for the Others", a track I was really hoping to get on film (currently my fave track on the album, partly because of the rediculously hooky chorus, partly due to the elegantly controlled anger of the lyrics), but here are a couple of others instead. The only thing that could have made this night better for me is if they were playing a seated venue - the ambient crowd noise at the Commodore was bugging me, as per usual.

DOXA

DOXA: I'm finally getting to the end of the 10 days of docs at DOXA. We've had a phenomenal festival this year, it feels like we've really turned a corner. Attendance has been off the charts, press has been phenomenal - and most importantly, Jennifer Beals disposable camera is now about $50 shy of $8000.00 on eBay (WTF??!). All we are hoping is that the person bidding for is actually going to pay up. I have my eyes on a couple of the others, but I'm going to lay low until the final fantastic frenzy of bidding in a couple of days.

As for the films - a few of my faves:

• Robinsons of Mantsinsaari - one of the most visually stunning films I have seen. Each frame is absolutely perfect. And I like the idea of the absolute stubbornness that these two old men harbour. I read an interview with the director, and he said he kept filming hoping for something to happen, some small drama, and nothing did. He tried to get the two men together to speak to eachother - they absolutely refused. Oh to have such resolve...
• Nobody's Perfect - 12 people affected by thalidomide agree to pose nude for a photo shoot. An eye-opening and very funny look into the lives of twelve really unique, creative, strong characters. The trailer above is largely in German, but it gets the point across.
  
• American Swing: About the rise and fall of Plato's Retreat, the 1970's swingers club. The interviews with the old attendees of Plato's are priceless. It all sounds like fun until they start describing the smell, the "damp", the crabs, and what the water in the swimming pool consists of (augh!). Shudder.

Such great stuff. If you didn't go, keep an eye open for DOXA next year. It just keeps getting better.

BUG BUG BUG...

Sun Burnt
Originally uploaded by Matthew Burditt

...because I know she gets self conscious. And I know she will accuse me of stalking her because I have the uncanny ability to dig up photos that she doesn't even know are out there. But I looove this photo so I couldn't help myself.

Maybe getting older isn't so bad....

Yep, it's that time of year. Making it less traumatic:
1) adorable Shinzi Kato book from my pal L. in TO!


2) Present to myself: new fridge!


3) Present #2 to myself: new kitchen light! (you can tell it is the kitchen because of the holes in the ceiling). At first I was a bit disappointed in the shade - when I bought it I thought it was much simpler, without all the ridges (my own mistake - I relied on the simplified computerized images as I was "trying out" different shades on the Rejuvenation website) but I've got to say I really like it now - the ridges look very cute when the light is turned on! You should know I have lived with a bare bulb for the past three years. The new light is a BIG deal :)

Off to DOXA's opening night tonight! More on the festival in the days to come...

That SOUND....

Yes, that sound...on film. Cute during the day, not cute at 2am.

Turn up your volume for the full experience.

(And extra points to anyone who can identify the band playing in the background ...)

Still struggling...

...with this blogging thing. So - here goes another dive into my random world:

• after a day of delving into the unbelievably varied (and expensive) world of faucets ($800 for a faucet? REALLY??), I have decided to go Canadian with the Cheviot number pictured (fear not, it will be chrome not gold...). This will adorn the Porcher Stanza cabinet I currently have sitting in my dining room. Seemed to me like a good mix of traditional styling & clean lines
  
• I have ordered yet another light fixture from Rejuvenation. I did look at some light fixtures here, but didn't see anything I love - and also realized that ordering online is a way of managing my tendency to OBSESS. So - almost all the "parts" are in place for the bathroom. Now I just have to will the contractor into calling me back...
  

• and an update on Mr. Big Eyes from the last blog post. Little bugger was sitting by my head at about 2am this morning, purring. And his squishy face causes a particularly loud, snotty sounding purr....a sound punctuated every so often with a very loud swallow. As I lay there, pretending to be alseep, I wondered whether purring is in fact a voluntary action, and whether Thom is smart enough to use it as a weapon (in the middle of the night, his purr has all the subtlety of a lawnmower). Then he whapped me on the head with a paw, and I realized that yes, he knows how to use the arsenal of weapons at his disposal. So, don't be fooled by those big innocent eyes.
• And finally, I am beyond excited by the line-up at this year's Vancouver Folk Festival. Great Lake Swimmers? Dan Mangan (who, in my fantasy world, will be on a workshop stage with Veda Hille, who is also in the lineup)? Rock Plaza Central? Iron & Wine? Geoff Berner? The Weakerthans?... catch me as I swoon.