Nu year

Happy 2010, friends! Hope your last days of 2009 was lovely, warm, full of good food and company. I went to the Tranzac for a phenomenal showcase of Canadian music, with Gentleman Reg, Laura Barrett, The Magic, all that for NYE--until the last minute I was set to watch the fireworks from my patio over a reflectory glass of wine, but it was a good choice to go out.

Well, it was -15 degress in Toronto, and 9 degrees in the coastal town that I've left behind. Vancouver was much kinder this time around--I did a 7-hour climb up the snowy Mount Fromme at Lynn Valley (whoo!), saw the views from Burnaby Mountain park, and I scored a Rene Magritte-inspired pipe shirt at Mintage.

Also, I read a story of a man, who had acquired a branch of orchids, and the love he put into this plant. He watered it according to schedule, moved its place daily to where the half-shade was the most ideal for his flowers, gently tied up its stem as it grew taller. And when he went on lengthy vacation some time later, meaning to find rest and purpose, he put his close friend to care for this plant. He called the friend weekly to make sure the plant was thriving, and thought about these orchid flowers whenever he saw beautiful flora in the wilderness. He found that he was obsessing over this plant, and when he came home, he promptly passed it on to someone that he knew shared more love with silent things than with people. Then he set on to part with one thing a day, to not let his rest and work be overshadowed by possession. So I've made that my new year's resolution--going on Day 3 of the year it's been pretty easy, but I'll see that as I go on in the year I'll know what I really need and what's weighing me down.

Sounds like a solid plan, yeah? Yep.

Pictures of the trip coming soon! It only rained 3 out of the 12 days I was in Vancouver, and it was warm warm warm.

(unfortunate) Wonders of the world

So I went to see the ever-wonderful Dan Mangan last night. We packed up the place, sang along to every song, crowd-surfed a robot, and I got to play some rhythm instruments for the last song (jealous?). Dan is, perhaps, gaining momentum as fast as any that I know about, and he deserves it. When I saw him just six months ago, he was amazed that people were throwing out song requests, and that people of Toronto were listening to him at all. But that tune is changed, and his songs are aging better and better.


Anyway, my lovely friend Sharmin brought along some friends--and among them Michelle, who pointed out that Dan looks like Seth Rogen...

I'm sorry if I ruined it for anyone.

Also, I've been absent lately--things are exciting over on this end, I am doing more art than I have in a very long time, and I would love to show you what I'm working on very, very soon. Hope everyone's building nice igloos for the winter!

Gratefulness

These guys won an Oscar last year for the best original song category for a little movie called Once. When they were in Toronto to promote the film over two years ago, I sang with Glen Hansard. Two weeks before that, their all-amazing tour manager, Howard, pulled a serious ninja move to let the then-underage yours truly into the vicious Phoenix concert theatre to see the band in concert.

Tonight they played a 9-song acoustic set in front of a handful of people, and I was lucky enough to witness it. I'm still not quite sure what I did to be have the privilege to be there, other than sending a desperate plea at age 18 to be let into a gig.

Over a year ago my sister and I gave them a set of paintings (the bottom half is by me), wrapped in newspaper tied with a piece of yarn from a scarf I was knitting at the time.

When I saw Glen tonight, he showed me that same piece of string, tied around his wrist, been there since the night I gave it to him on November 23rd of 2007. As I am after every night I see them, I'm full of good music and lack words of thanks. The honky-tonk piano, so out of tune, did just fine for the evening.

Next up: Chad VanGaalen! I'm really, really banking on him to win the Polaris Prize. And then Bruce Peninsula, and then the Gaslight Anthem, and then Dan Mangan, then the Swell Season (again), then the Rural Alberta Advantage, take me into winter. I'm in love.

Before I leave

This past Thursday I went to the Grizzly Bear concert, and I know you hear this from me, but God, what an amazing show. This time I really, really mean it. I was amazed by everything, even by how big Chris Taylor's mouth could get when he sings, but especially by Ed Droste's voice, and by how the ever-lovely Leslie Feist made a guest appearance. Observe and admire:

What a grand send-off (I leave for Europe tomorrow). When I come back I'll be seeing Amy Millan of Stars and my rainbow-endorsed imaginary husband Gentleman Reg at the Harbourfront Centre on July 25th, the Rural Alberta Advantage (the newest Saddle Creek addition, if you haven't heard yet) on the 30th, and St. Vincent on August 8th. I think that just about makes up for all the great shows I'll be missing: Beirut + the Dodos, and the Toronto Fringe Festival among others. My two former roommates are performing in two shows at the Toronto Fringe, Goodbye Rounds and Tim Buck 2 (scroll down a lot to find this one). I swear I almost considered going to Europe at some other time, but I'm really damn lucky to be living in this city. Dear Lady Luck, thanks for placing me here.

In a totally different news, my sister is now inhabiting the wonderful stad of Antwerpen (pronounced Antwerpuh), read her Euroblog here and her great story of how the name of the town came to be.

Canadian Music Binge

I am so CMW-ed out! Ten artists in three days (sixteen including those that were not a part of Canadian Music Fest) and fifteen hours of combined sleep. It was my first festival experience (don't even ask why I've never done CMW or NXNE before) and I'm happy to have made it alive.

I took this photo before I decided to me quasi-rude and start using flash, so I apologize for the blurriness. I'd heard of the $100 fame before, but it was my first time seeing the band, and Simone Fornow's voice is seriously something else. Listening to their myspace now, I have to say it was quite different in person, but in a good way. There's something rural about this band, rolled together with hardness. And I love steel guitars. It was such a good way to start the three days.

I should mention that I'd never seen the Horseshoe Tavern like this before. It's definitely one of my favourite venues, but it was packed, I felt like I was a croissant baking into golden perfection in the oven. Women, ironically made up of five dudes, was of a genre that I haven't yet familiarized myself with, so I reserve all judgement. I have a good gut feeling about them, though.

I love Reg Vermue! I think everyone in Toronto has a secret soft spot for Gentleman Reg that gets revealed once you see him perform. The sweet banter and constant good humour, backed by the danceable indie pop lines and his endearing voice, is enough to make him one of my favourite acts to see live (my fourth time and counting). Watch my video from the night of The Boyfriend Song.

CHAD VANGAALEN!!! If you remember this post I had named his 2008 album Soft Airplane as my favourite of the year. That opinion hasn't changed much, and seeing him live only encouraged my sentiment. I have this belief that the reverb/delay pedal was pretty much invented for his voice (I'm not a master of pedals, so don't quote me on what that pedal's called). He opened with Willow Tree (click for my video. A rhetorical question to the MFers who are talking through the first twenty-five seconds of the song about being rude: Irony?). When I listen to him I feel like I'm listening to every sound on the planet. Not sure where that feeling comes from, but it sure is amazing. I just learned yesterday that I'll have missed him by 2 days when I get to France in 12 weeks (!) and had a mini-heartbreak.

If there is one band in Toronto that I feel like I'm watching grow, it's Hooded Fang. My friend Sharmin (who has been my common-law wife for the CMW period, and has very good reviews on her blog as well) and I speculate that their name probably comes from Jacob Two-Two, just as I imagine these magical boys and girls of the indie-pop band would. They are exactly what to call indie-pop, and I love it. I saw one of their very first shows, and now they are polished--nothing complex, nothing too serious, just the things that they do so well, catchy lines and fun harmonies. Watch for yourself here.

These guys from Iceland gave us some good options for leaving the venue safely and arriving sound in our homes: Learn to say their band name, or buy an EP. I learned to say their Icelandic name from Snorri Helgason, the lead singer himself, how to say their name, and safely left the place (I thank him for his humble kindness that remained even after he found out that I wasn't playing the following band). They call themselves "Icelandic indie pop for the masses", and that's pretty much bang-on. It was hard not to pick up their energy and throw it around the room myself.

As a lover of indie music, I want to have nothing bad to say about indie bands. Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about these guys. There is a fine line between showmanship and self-indulgence, and that line was crossed every which way.

Black Hat Brigade, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Definitely one of my favourites from the festival. I have a lot to thank them for, seeing as they are the band that prompted me to go out, look for and support indie music, back sometime now. They are so solid from any angle, carry the best energy and know how to hook you. Their new EP is coming out in May, titled "Fathers", look out for it.

They've already featured this video on their myspace, but they're so damn good I'm going to embed it right in here.

I'm dedicating this to Bryan, who fills up my Facebook inbox to keep the fans up-to-date.

I actually only caught one song by Herman Dune (his myspace sounds great), but this picture pretty much sums up the crowd at any CMW Showcase. Thanks for showing up.

I'm in love with this girl. She is as adorable as one can be, but with one of the biggest voices in Canadian music today. She's got those love songs and prayer songs, ukuleles and autoharps, and with the lacquer of violas and drums it's just got a permanent place in my heart. Watch Before I Knew here.

There, I'm done. Thanks for reading!

Music week.

I've been to three shows in the last three nights; all Canadian, all amazing musicians. My roommate (whose blog you can check out here) once said that my iPod may as well be CBC Radio 3 (which you should definitely listen in to, in case you don't already--Canadian "indie" goodness), and this is probably a valid point. Although I'm not originally from Canada, when it comes to the arts I'm aggressively Canadian (and parts Irish, but that is a conversation for another day), which does well to explain my criticism of Harper for partially obliterating the importance of arts and culture here.

Anyway, the three bands I saw are: Dan Mangan from Vancouver, BC; the infamous and incomparable Broken Social Scene (they organized a food drive with the Daily Food Bank for the homeless--the participation was a bit disheartening, but my friend Adam and I Campbelled it up) ; and Hawksley Workman. Weeks like this, I really love living in Toronto. The Acorn, Ohbijou and The Rural Alberta Advantage (one of my favourite bands from Toronto) played together at Lee's Palace the same night of Broken Social Scene, as well as Black Hat Brigade and The Schomberg Fair at the Horseshoe.

I name-drop incessantly because I just want to point out how much there is to see and hear in this city--in every city, for that matter. And they've all got things to say, outside of their music as well. All songwriters are thinkers, and they are all bound to have something to say about something you've never thought of before.

So... seek them out! I assume there will be a Best of 2008 list at the end of the year, no matter how incomplete and limited my hearing range has been this year.

ps. If you go to shows, and you just absolutely must blaze/drink from the bottle right at the venue, please don't pick fights with my friends. Or start imitating the keys guy on my sister's head. It's annoying. Just sayin'.

pps. Last day of classes woo! But the upcoming Week Fourteen of Death is... frightening. So is the Last Day of Work Pending Unemployment--coming this Sunday!

en papier, en deux

I thought I'd mention the lovely music behind the name of this blog: Paper Anniversary by Christine Fellows (a not-very-subtle reference to her first anniversary with husband John K. Samson of the Weakerthans). She is a very Canadian artist from Winnipeg. I've been listening to this album on repeat for awhile now.

I saw her in concert last December at the Music Hall in Toronto; she had a projector full of art to share, and a flock of birds that came along. December last year was lovely.

I uploaded a song from the album: Vertebrae.

Last time I came here to visit him
I ran sunburnt through the halls
My arms full of tiger lilies
I don't remember this
But I was told to go home
And to clear the doorstep of flowers

Why, when you know you should go,
Is it so hard to leave?

Plan for Thursday: a cancelled class, and Iron & Wine in concert!