Music This Week 005: The Arkells, A huge storm, and a Pilot Speed show that didn't happen...

It was July 19, 2009. I had been at home, and got caught in quite a storm on the way home from work. By the time I had gotten home, everything seemed okay. I had just been dumped by my girlfriend (oh sorry, she went on a break with me), but I resolved to meet Jeremy and Sheila to see the Arkells and Pilot Speed (formerly Pilate) play a free show at Capital Ex. Through the Arkells set, it rained off and on, and eventually the sun came out for a while. They wrapped up their set. The road crews began to put the stage together for Pilot Speed. This was the first time I was to see one of my favourite bands since their 2003 release Caught by the Window.

I was talking to a few Grant Macewan journalist students whom were taking some pictures; I asked them to email a few of the pictures of the stage to me. That's when one of them remarked about how dark it had become. I looked to see extremely dark clouds descending over us at an unusual rate. "It'll probably just pass by us." I said. Jeremy and Sheila went to find Sheila's friends somewhere. That's when all chaos broke loose. The wind picked up so much it became a threat to the temporary stage. We were asked to leave the area immediately. I didn't initially believe anything was that bad, so I straggled, until the police began evacuating us. I started walking, quickly, towards the exit, until I heard terrible sounds behind me (it proved to be booths falling apart, and the stage collapsing) and that's when I started running. As I was going for the exit, a metal fence blew over on to me. I continued out and around and began down Wayne Gretzky Drive towards my truck which was parked in front of Axe at the time, a couple of blocks down. Giant oak trees along the drive had branches blown off, one on top of a minivan while driving right next to me. Then the hail started. Finally I reached my truck, being pelted with hail and debris, and then hard rain. I got in and began to drive home. The lights were out, including the traffic lights, and people had forgotten to use common sense and were ripping through uncontrolled intersections.

We found out the day after that Pilot Speed had to cancel some of the rest of their tour because their equipment and tour vehicles were damaged from the storm. #YEG was the biggest twittered (Edmonton) location due to the storm.

I never got to see Pilot Speed when they came back.

I did however, finally pick up Jackson Square by The Arkells (Dine Alone Records) a few days ago. Just as good as it was on that stage; it was on the album. Max's lyrics are fantastically poetic, and the music is great to groove to. So as a tribute to one of my old favourites, and one of my new favourites, the playlist today is made up of two great Arkells songs, and three great Pilot Speed songs.

1. Tragic Flaw - Arkells - Jackson Square 2009
2. Abigail - Arkells - Jackson Square 2009
3. Alright - Pilate - Caught By The Window 2003 (rereleased under Pilot Speed)
4. Hold The Line - Pilate - Self Control For Life's Speed 2006 (rereleased under Pilot Speed)
5. Put The Phone Down - Pilot Speed - Wooden Bones 2009

And if you must know, my Self Control for Life's Speed album is the one labelled "Pilate" and not Pilot Speed. They pulled them from shelves at some point and restocked with a new press that had the new band name on it. Some band that broke up in 1974 had the same name as Pilate. It doesn't make Pilot Speed any less good, or the other original Pilate any less unknown. That's my opinion on it.

Enjoy the playlist this week; I recommend the entire Jackson Square album.

Music This Week 004: Colleen Brown, Matthew Good and Artists Using Other People's Guitars

This week started out with the Hawksley Workman concert on Sunday evening, and technically because Sunday is the beginning of the week, that means the week started out with the Hawksley Workman concert.

Opening for Hawksley was Colleen Brown. Hawksley had heard her on CBC Radio 3 and invited her to open the show. Workman's dedication to local artists is phenominal, getting a local artist for him to open his shows at each place. But I digress, I'm focusing on Brown here. An Edmonton, Alberta native, she's proven that there is a possibility for Edmontonians making music to play on a national scale and have some success. She described the story of how she first heard her own song on local radio CKUA while she was working at the box office in the Winspear. Fantastic stuff, she put on a great show, and some of her tracks are in our selections for this week. I wonder if she'll google herself and come accross this blog one day...

As for Hawksley, I told Cedar he's a shredder. Played an excellent show absent of anything off of Lover/Fighter except for Future Language Of Slaves, an abbreviated version with a shredding solo at the end. Apparently the concert was being recorded for later broadcast on CBC Radio 3. Quite personally I think CBC could easily sell copies of the performance, if not pressed, than at least on iTunes. Songs that I couldn't stand off the album suddenly sounded fantastic in comparison to their counterparts, which in my opinuous ranting, were overproduced. If you love Songs For Sarah Jane, it's about 10 times more heartbreaking played by Hawksley on a Gretsch single cut with a very strange floating bridge and Mr.Lonely, his keyboard player. If you think We'll Make Time is a boring lovesong, it takes on a whole new aura of energy and pure rock excitement when used as the final song in the encore. And you'd be surprised when Workman straps on a Gibson King V in the middle of the show and shreds some metal worthy solos.

Here's a guy who can do no wrong. He himself admitted that, "I can't believe I'm here. In a time where this industry I am is so uncertain I keep being able to play amazing people like this in front of all of you just by being me." And that's his appeal. Workman doesn't have mass appeal. But yet, looking at a sold out Winspear Center, seeing how the concert goers ranged from hipsters to punks to preps, professionals to labourors, seventeen year olds to seventy year olds; Workman appeals to everyone and anyone.

Then there's this:

And I know you're like, "what is that?" It's Workman playing this:

This is a Paul Reed Smith SE Mike Mushok signature model guitar. This is an odd choice. Why? Because this is the signature guitar of Mike Mushok. Who is he? He's the guitarist from Staind. That's right; Workman is playing Staind's guitarist's signature model. The other wierd things about this include the fact that this guitar is a 27.7" baritone model. In other words, it's made explicitly for low tunings and heavy metal. Finally, it's actually a cheaper Korean built guitar, as opposed to the real PRS american built models. It actually retails for only around $700 altogether. But it actually works well for Workman. On occaision when Mr.Lonely and his bass player are both on keyboards, he can carry the low end of the song by playing in lower registers. It also has passive pickups which are a little more dynamic compared to most baritones which use actives. I thought it was interesting. It's something you don't see a lot.

Finally the last thing I wanted to talk about this week was Matt Good. I have always found him one of the most dynamic and interesting songwriters there ever was. Of course, through his divorce, and in the days after MGB died off, his solo material wasn't so great until Hospital Music. That being said, I never gave Vancouver my full approval. That is until this week I took it in the car with me. Driving out to the Fort yesterday morning in the dark that daylight savings time left us, I had a good reaquaintence with one of my old friends. The selections off of Vancouver are seen below.

So here are the songs to add to your playlist for this week:

1. Colleen Brown - Man, Woman and Child - Foot In Heart 2007
2. Colleen Brown - I Can't Make You Love Me - Foot In Heart 2007
3. Colleen Brown - Ain't Got No Man (To Have Problems With) - Foot In Heart 2007
4. Matthew Good - On Nights Like Tonight - Vancouver 2009
5. Matthew Good - Volcanoes - Vancouver 2009

To go ahead and hear Colleen Brown, check out:

http://www.colleenbrownmusic.com/

You'll also find links there to her album available on iTunes and CDBaby. Of course, if you live in Edmonton, just go stop by Blackbyrd or Megatunes, and you should be able to get a hold of it.

Until next time, keep enjoying music!

Music This Week 003: Hawksley In Town

Mr. Workman (seriously, is this the guy's real name) is in town this week. I didn't really enjoy Meat all that much, but I knew I wouldn't. I knew that Hawksley was getting wierder and wierder and there was nothing much anyone could do about that. I mean why do you think Tegan and Sarah stopped having their albums produced by him and moved over to Ben Gibbard and Hunter from AFI? I think to be able to suggest someone else's music to have mass appeal, you have to have mass appeal yourself.

But the point isn't necessarily always about having mass appeal, of course.

I know that I abandoned music this week last week (yeah I said it) but for a good cause. Basically, the PS network was down, and you weren't supposed to use your playstation. So instead I made a tape. That person I made the tape for will be coming with me on Sunday evening to see the man himself who has broken so many hearts...or something. I wonder who's opening?

This week, I thought I'd include something from Meat, along with some other selections I've been listening to.

1. Songs For Sarah Jane - Hawksley Workman - Meat 2010
2. Golden Years - Disco Ensemble - Back On The MF Street 2009
3. The Weight - Thrice - Beggars 2009
4. Spanish Handshake - The Bronx - The Bronx III 2008
5. Wolves - Machine Head - The Blackening 2007

A lot more highway driving for me now, therefore, a lot more stuff I can cruise to. Add these to your playlist, and enjoy!

#002 - The Reminder

Just 'round about 9:00pm, on my way to Wednesday night Karaoke, I'm going to drop this one in Cedar's mailbox.



Cedar and I had dated for a couple of months. Unfortunately it didn't work out; but we managed to forge one of the most valuable friendships I have. I don't think she's ever gotten a mixed tape. In fact, I don't think she's even seen High Fidelity, which by hipster standards is somewhat of a crime. Our friendship at this point consists of mostly us calling each other or texting or emailing each other and letting each other know how our lives are going. We're huge moral support for each other to be better people. Everyone needs a friend like that. Someone who knows all the intimate details about you, and can tell you straight what they think you might need in your life, but can also listen to you.



Cedar is fairly political, was at the bush protest, and I thought she should have a very limited selection of political tracks on here. Political isn't generally where her music interests lie. Generally I decided to make it mostly about songs that we used to listen together. The first time I saw It Might Get Loud, it was with her, at the Princess Theater.




Side A

1. Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks - Mothership (remasters) 2007


2. Wintersleep - Oblivion - Welcome To The Night Sky 2008


3. Them Crooked Vultures - New Fang - Them Crooked Vultures 2009


4. The Dears - 22: Death Of All The Romance (live) - Thank You Good Night Sold Out 2004


5. Feist - Lonely Lonely - Let It Die - 2005


6. Coeur De Pirate - La Vie Est Ailleurs - Coeur De Pirate - 2008


7. The Clash - English Civil War - The Singles (remasters) 2007


8. The Shins - New Slang - Oh, Inverted World 2001


9. Saosin - It's All Over Now - In Search Of Solid Ground - 2009

Side B

1. Alice In Chains - Check My Brain - Black Gives Way To Blue 2009


2. U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (live) - Elevation Live From Boston 2001


3. White Stripes - 300mph Outpour Blues - Icky Thump 2007


4. Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon - Pawn Shoppe Heart 2004


5. Againstme! - Even At Our Worst We're Still Better Than Most - Searching For A Former Clarity 2005


6. Anti Flag - One Trillion Dollars - For Blood And Empire 2006


7. Alexisonfire - Emerald Street - Old Crows Young Cardinals 2009


8. Bedouin Soundclash - Gunships - Street Gospels 2007


9. Matthew Good - On Nights Like Tonight - Vancouver 2009


10. Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations - '59 Sound 2008

I made a major faux pas on this one. Great Expectations runs out before it gets to the end. I thought I got enough of it not to do it over again. I found some really cool Matt Good rant for just before On Nights Like Tonight on youtube; something from when he used to do a rant on MuchMusic. I remember when I used to read his rant, the 'manifesto' on his website all the time, back in '99. There were no blogs then. I guess you could call him a pioneer. I used to put stuff on our own band website. I would get in shit a lot for that. Now everyone talks about everything and airs out all their dirty laundry. I think I'm safe airing mixed tape playlists.

Oh, and what does the title mean? I mean, I know it's a title of a Feist album, of which none of the songs make the tape. It's because I said I would go to Hawksley Workman with her (also doesn't appear on the tape) on March 14th. She emailed me to remind me the other day, or else I might have totally forgotten. Last time I saw Hawksley? With Jess, in March 2004, the same person I made the last tape for. You only go to Hawksley so you can stand beside someone you have a certain uneasy tension with.

Beatrice Martin has replaced sex for me: Random 001

So it turns out that Beatrice Martin (Coeur De Pirate), cute little Beatrice Martin with that cute little french voice and her cute little folk songs is a dirty, dirty nude model. And by that I use nude model very loosely. Someone could have said to me "how could you not have known?" Well, I heard about her through a friend who ordered the CD after hearing about her on CBC Radio 3. Of course, he goes to google her and what does he get: (this one is work safe, but if you just google image search her you can get much worse ones)

Looks like she was also a model for something called 'godsgirls' which I can only imagine is a ripoff of SG. Most of the images makes it look like she and her ex got a hold of the camera while she was in the shower and decided to have some fun with it.

Meanwhile, I've been working on a new tape, but progress has been slowgoing, namely due to my hectic work schedule. My main rig had some sort of error I had to deal with, and now it seems to be okay. So after I decided to take a break from it, and scald the shit out of myself in the shower for no particular reason, I decided to come here and post this random tidbit.

So, Beatrice Martin: does her appearance in this blog give me less credibility, or more?

I know this is early, I don't have a tape done, and it's not Music This Week until Thursday, but to quote a very infamous young woman

"This blog has replaced sex for me."