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Mocking Music - MP3 Blog with an emphasis on music news and idie acts. pop
(Added: 13-Jul-2005 Hits: 914 Rating: 10.00 Votes: 1) Rate It

  • How the Grinch Cured Cancer
    A couple days ago I caught Halifax's Rich Aucoin open for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Shapes and Sizes. Like many young Canadian artists Aucoin decided to embark on a cross-country tour. Unlike many of his contemporaries, though, he's decided to do it on his bike! You read that right, Aucoin is biking across the world's second largest country with all his gear in tow. He started his trip in Victoria and will end it in his hometown. That's over 6,000km, on a bike!

    Aucoin's story gets even better. His tour is doubling as a fund raiser to raise money for the Childhood Cancer Foundation. At every show he shaves off some of his hair to encourage people to donate money for an excellent cause.

    It helps that Aucoin puts on an excellent show. At every stop he plays his debut EP,     Personal Publication, from start to finish. He wrote the album to sync up with Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He plays the holiday classic over a projector. The effect is quite uplifting. It all fits in quite well with his goal to help children who must cope with cancer.

    Thanks to the wonders of the Internet you can watch the entire thing via Youtube. Enjoy!
  • All Things Art
    So we recently lent a hand in curating the music side of a multi-faceted Art festival, the delightful Ottawa Art Bazaar. The event runs across three days - August 9th through to 11th - and promises to be quite a lot of fun.

    The Bazaar is meant to bring together Ottawa's various arts communities. Music is the only one with which I'm currently familiar, so I plan on using the event to learn more about Ottawa's thriving Dance, Theatre, and Slam Poetry scenes. Maybe you will too. The event is taking place at the Arts Court Theatre on Daly Avenue, and tickets are available at the Arts Court Box Office.

    For the music side of things, we used this opportunity to work with some of our favourite local, national, and international artists. Here's some info on who you can expect to see:

    Peter & The Wolf (from Austin, Texas), is a great American singer-songwriter who we've been following for some time. Here's what Pitchfork has to say about Peter's album Lightness:

    "Hindsight is blind, and Peter and the Wolf's Red Hunter knows this: On his band's (proper) debut album Lightness, he recalls past relationships to praise them, not to bury them. Hunter idealizes, even canonizes, girls gone by, rendering them all good, and all the same. This is also true of his music: Hunter uses few instruments, though always in gorgeous combinations. The result is a great winter album-- one that sounds recorded over a snow day, as if Hunter and company holed up in a warm cabin and made a bricolage record, with half-remembered memories of people they may have never met as a lyrical influence. It's a small album that fills a room.

    And I'm not sure why, but I see the details of a room while I listen to Lightness-- smooth wood tables, warm air, natty wool rugs. Maybe it's because of the album's consistent textures: Hunter's roasted chestnuts voice (whose dryness sounds a little like Cat Stevens's or Richard Buckner's), soft sighs, and organic percussion. On tracks such as "Canada" Peter and the Wolf sound like they recorded on thick analog tape, or through a microphone wrapped in merino, though Hunter's timbre stays low and woody. There are no drums on Lightness, so percussion is charmingly lo-fi-- the heel of a palm striking the back of a guitar, or four beans rattling in a cup. Delicate guitar picking moves each track, along with "oohhh"s and "ahhh"s, which appear, murky or light, male and female, on almost every song."

    Montreal's The Luyas are comprised of members of S.S. Cardiacs, The Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre, Miracle Fortress and Torngat. They're just starting out, but with ties like that I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more of them soon. Check out what NOW Magazine had to say about them recently here.

    We've also got competent locals Glenn Nuotio and Bear Claps on board, as well as Peterborough's Jonas Bonnetta. You can read all about them and the rest of the festival here.

    In other art-related news, Kotaku has an interesting feature on considering Video Games art, a response to Roger Ebert's latest diatribe about the medium's potential (or lack thereof). My stance on the issue? I'm a quarter of the way through the Nintendo DS's Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and thus far it's as emotionally and intellectually engaging as the most 'high art' films. Case closed, as far as I'm concerned.

    And finally, we've got a brand-new Mocking Music banner, courtesy of Stephen St.Pierre. Tell us what you think.
  • Capital Idea! Coverage: It Begins
    The reviews are pouring in! Well, just one review, and it's written by a friend of mine. But still.

    Head over to Cokemachineglow for a comprehensive review of the Capital Idea! Festival. I'm impressed that Conrad managed to make it to so many of these shows, let alone cover each of them. I barely made it through that week and I slept through most of it. And Lauren's photos of the event, which you can see here are similarly comprehensive (and thus impressive). Do it up.

    Some show announcements this morning, which you may have noticed on the sidebar: Mika Miko are swinging by Zaphod's on August 25th with Montreal's Thundra!; Montag hits up Zaphod's on September 1st with The One AM Radio and Lymbyc System; and the legendary Japanese noisemongerers RUINS are destroying the same club on September 16th - they'll be joined by AIDS Wolf and locals Smoke Judo. Good times.

    Speaking of that sidebar, you may notice I've been diligent about adding upcoming show listings. I'm hoping to keep that up. You'll notice, too, that I'm adding a link beside each listing for the official show poster - a much-needed addition to Mocking Music, because those posters are delicious. And by popular demand, I've added a link at the bottom of the sidebar to visit a comprehensive Mocking Music Poster Archive, so that those delightful illustrated masterworks don't just disappear after the event passes us by. Check those out.

    Oh, and The Acorn are featured on Pitchfork's Forkcast today! Congratulations, guys! Forthcoming LP Glory Hope Mountain hits stores this Fall via Paper Bag Records, and it's sure to be a good one.
  • 2007 Pitchfork Festival Part 1
    Before heading to Chicago I had every intention to blog after each day of the festival. Things don't always go as planned, though, and I found myself with a lot less free time than I thought I'd have. When my friends and I weren't at the festival grounds we were either sleeping or on the go. It was an exhausting few days to say the least. Still, we had a blast and got to see a lot of great music.

    Instead of writing and exhaustive run-through of all the weekend's acts I'll do a "best of" and talk about my Pitchfork highlights. Rather than do one massive post I'll do this in two parts and post the second part tomorrow.

    Before I begin, I should say that I was thoroughly impressed with all the organization that went behind the festival. The tickets were very affordable-- especially when compared to other US music festivals-- and the army of vendors also offered very good prices. The food was great and offered a little something for every taste. I'd definitely like to go back down the line.

    Now, I'll be going through some of my favourite performances over the two days I attended the festival. These aren't in any particular order. They just happen to be artists I really enjoyed.

    Dan Deacon

    It's too bad Dan Deacon's Canadian tour was canceled because of some stolen ID. He probably put on the most energetic set of the entire festival. It would of been a blast to have seen him in a small club earlier this month. Still, the large festival crowd offered a whole different (and awesome) experience.

    Deacon played at the smaller B stage that had been plagued by audio problems the entire day. These issues completely ruined Oxford Collapse's set earlier in the day. Luckily, Deacon was able to school the sound guy with his deep knowledge sound design and electro-acoustic     composition (he has a Master's degree in the latter field). He was able to make the best of a bad situation and got some pretty good sound.

    It wasn't long before he got the large crowd moving to his infectious beats.     Most of all, Deacon is a master entertainer and really knows how to engage the crowd. From sing-alongs to organized dance pits he did everything in his power to turn his set into an experience. It was such an intense experience, in fact, that festival organizers saw it fit to cut his set short for safety reasons.

    Below is an example of the craziness. If Deacon ever comes to your t    own don't even think twice about missing his show.


    Girl Talk

    Right after Deacon's set Girl Talk brought his own beats to the table. I was lucky enough to see him only two weeks prior so I had a good idea of what to expect. His set met my expectations and more. He really pulled out all the stops for the large Chicago crowd.

    Like Deacon, his set also got cut off a little early because things were getting a little too out of hand. The second stage was on a long narrow strip between two fences. There were fears that the large crowd could collapse one of the fences and cause a lot of injuries.

    It was one of the best dance parties of my life. Just as in Ottawa, I was able to wring the sweat from my t-shirt when it was all over.

    The best part was when the guys from Grizzly Bear came on stage to sing along to Girl Talk's cover of their song "Knife." Speaking of which...

    Grizzly Bear

    <Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor plays at Pitchfork. Photo taken by Flickr's Staciaann Photography.

    This was my third time seeing Grizzly Bear live. I would rank this particular performance in second place, just after the time I saw them at Ottawa's Barrymore's Music Hall. The best place to see this band is really in a small indoor venue. Ed Droste's dream-like vocals just sound better when they're reverberating off the walls.

    Still, it was a great performance that gave me goosebumps at more than one occasion. Despite some small technical difficulties at the beginning of their set they still managed pull off an awesome show. The crowd was definitely into this one.

    Well that's it for my first Pitchfork recap. I'll post some more of my favourite moments sometime tomorrow.
  • Chicago Bound!
    Friday morning I'll embark on a 12 hour drive to Chicago with a few friends. We'll be heading down for the Pitchfork Music Festival. This year's festival will include the likes of Mastodon, Of Montreal, Cat Power, Clipse, The New Pornographers, Dan Deacon and a few other of Pitchfork Media's favourite artists. Unfortunately, tickets for the big Friday night headliners (Sonic Youth, GZA and Slint) were sold out by the time we decided to head down for the festivities. We'll still get to enjoy a lot of great music on the weekend.

    I'll make sure to bring my laptop along for the ride and I'll try to write a few festival updates whenever I find the time.

    Speaking of time, we'll need to fill a lot of it during our long ride. Feel free to leave some great road trip music suggestions in the comments. We'll be driving through Michigan and Illinois so I'm sure a couple of Sufjan Stevens albums will be in order...

    Download:
    Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
    Wilco - Far, Far Away (Streaming from their website)
    Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight (on the Hype Machine)
    The Hold Steady - Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night

Acts of Volition Radio - Archive of Podcasting pioneer Steve Garrity's AOV Radio Sessions
(Added: 2-Jul-2005 Hits: 316 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

Baba's Lounge MySpace Blog - Lots of photos of the acts who play at Baba's Lounge in Charlottetown/
(Added: 26-Oct-2006 Hits: 163 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

Catherine MacLellan - With her expressive guitar playing, beautiful melodies, and evocative vocals, Catherine MacLellan pulls the listener into her world of song. She is the daughter of famed songwriter Gene (Snowbird, Put Your Hand in the Hand)
(Added: 4-Sep-2006 Hits: 193 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Sun., June 22nd, Summer!!
    Hello everyone, hope all is well.I am truly enjoying summer now. It has arrived here on the east coast.I'm in Georgetown PEI with Tanya Davis and Jenn Grant getting ready for the second night of tapi...
  • Wed., April 16th, Spring!!!... Ontario... CBC TV...
    Hello everyone... Spring has officially landed here in Halifax and it feels great!I've been hanging outside with my daughter in our backyard, making up games and looking for worms. Life is good...UPC...
  • Tue., March 18th, Home again... until... & a new record?
    So I’m back from the wilds of Ontario, and what a trip. It was a strange one from start to finish. I left PEI with Al and Isabel, got storm stayed outside of Quebec city, the flu arrived shortly...
  • Sun., February 17th, Video, website, memphis...
    Hey everyone,I'm sitting here in the nova scotia countryside staring at some deer and stoking the fire... it's lovely.I wanted to point you in the direction of my new video, directed by the lovely Sco...
  • Fri., January 4th, 2008
    Hello and Happy New Year!I just got back from a lovely visit home to PEI...family, feasts, friends and music. Lovely.I also had the lucky opportunity to spend a few days by myself in the woods with a ...

command N.tv video podcast - Web. Tech. Tips, Trends. - command-N is a weekly Web video show hosted by Amber MacArthur (formerly from Charlottetown) and Mike Lazazzera.
(Added: 9-Jul-2005 Hits: 403 Rating: 10.00 Votes: 1) Rate It

  • Sat., August 30th, commandN Episode 146 
    This week, a sneak peak at the google phone, JoCo sings us a song, and everything is 12 seconds long!
  • Sat., August 23rd, commandN Episode 145

    This week, Will is back with comic craziness, Jeff makes your iPhone last longer and Amber stares at her Nano.
    Plus bonus feature : a cabbie who tweets from Sin City!

  • Mon., August 18th, commandN Episode 144 
    This week, a tax on iTunes, how to destroy any website, and a conversation with iJustine.
  • Sat., August 9th, commandN Episode 143 
    Wifi in the sky, Paris Hilton for Commander-in-Chief, and how to eat your mood.
  • Fri., July 18th, commandN Episode 140 
    This week: FCC wins one for the gipper, Jeff is the first Islander with an iPhone and how to explode your secret emails.

EdTechTalk - Educational Technology That Talks - EdTechTalk is a community of educators interested in discussing and learning about the uses of educational technology. We webcast several live shows each week. Our 'main' show, hosted by Dave Cormier & Jeff Lebow, features the latest news from the world of edtech and the edublogosphere.
(Added: 6-May-2006 Hits: 178 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Sun., September 7th, EdTechWeekly #93 
    EdTechWeekly #93

    September 7, 2008


    read more

  • Sun., September 7th, Teachers Teaching Teachers #120 - The National Writing Project and Google Team Up To Give High School Students a Voice -09.03.08 

    On this podcast we talk with four guesrts about Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future, an exciting NWP logo Google Docscollaborative project sponsored by the National Writing Project and Google:

    • Andrew Chang, Product Marketing Manager at Google
    • Gail Desler, Tech Liaison for the Area 3 Writing Project in Northern California
    • Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, co-director of the National Writing Project
    • Paul Oh, the coordinator of the technology liaison program for the National Writing Project

    Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future is open to U.S. teachers and mentors working with students ages 13?18. The project requires that the teacher have a parent/guardian permission (PDF) on file for each student prior to publishing their work on the Web and requires that students and teachers have Internet connectivity and use or create a free Google account.

    Google accounts allow teachers and students to use Google Docs to compose, collaborate, edit, and share writing through Internet-accessible documents. The Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future website provides a secure way for teachers to publish students' publication-ready writing to a high-profile website intended to feature strong, well-reasoned, and persuasive writing by young people.

    Interested teachers should read How to Participate and then register [at http://nwp.org] by September 12. Publishing of student letters and essays occurs through October 30, 2008. Please note, in order to register for this project, you must first have an account on NWPi,

    Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future

    For the Chart Log, click Read more, below.

    read more

  • Sun., September 7th, Seedlings 2008-09-04 with Kern Kelley 

    Join us as we get an insiders look at Google Teachers' Academy with
    Kern Kelley. Kern is a Google certified educator and in this edition he
    speaks of his day at Google.

    Here are the delicious links from the show.

    ?Geek of the Week? Links for 2008-04-09

    Here is the all important chat:

    read more

  • Sat., September 6th, Teachers Teaching Teachers #119 - Kicking the tires on a new Drupal site - 08.27.08 

    Listen in as we kick the tires on a new Drupal site that we will be using this fall to connect our students. This summer Paul Allison and Susan Ettenheim invited Alice Barr, George Mayo, and Chris Sloan to work with Bill Fitzgerald and his colleagues at Funny Monkey to create a Drupal site for Youth Voices. In the weeks to come we will be inviting you to have you join our students as they begin to publish their images, videos, text, and audio on Youth Voices. Please plan to join us.

     

    For the Chat Log click Read more, below

    read more

  • Thu., September 4th, Upcoming Falls Shows

    School is just around the corner and parents, students and teachers are all getting themselves ready for school. Parents as Partners is right behind with an exciting fall series of webcasts.
    Our first show will be Monday September 15, 2008 9:00 PM EDT (GMT-4) at www.edtechtalk.com/live

    Jeannine St. Amand, Cindy Seibel, Penny Lindballe, Joanne McMahon will join show regulars, Matt Montagne, Lorna Costantini and Cindy Zautcke as we kick off the school year.

    read more

Electoral Future Commission Podcast - The Commission on PEI's Electoral Reform is making the audio of the Panel Discussion on Electoral Reform in Prince Edward Island available as a podcast feed.
(Added: 28-Jun-2005 Hits: 290 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

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Live from the Formosa Tea House - Peter Rukavina's radio sessions from the Formosa Tea House.
(Added: 2-Jul-2005 Hits: 284 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

Mark Hemphill - Just Audio - Podcasts from Mark Hemphill, an assistant professor at the University of Prince Edward Island. He joined the faculty at UPEI after a ten year career in enterprise software and B2B ecommerce. He is currently working on his phd through the European Graduate School of Media and Communications. His research interests though broad consist especially of the social and commercial forces of the Internet.
(Added: 29-May-2005 Hits: 360 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

Moe Gorman Sings Songs of Slander and Libel - Fans of Sketch 22 will know Moe Gorman, a modern-day relative of famed Island folksinger Larry Gorman.
(Added: 8-May-2006 Hits: 154 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Tue., May 2nd, Welcome to my myspace. I'm Moe Gorman
    Well, I've bin reading all about this mysapce thing ehre in The Guardian, about how some of the local music talent are getting well known or wahtnot putting there music up on this blog.  Figured ...

Nikkie - Nikkie's music is a diverse blend of folk, pop and rock. She has been writing songs since grade five. Although she has lived as far away as Calgary, Alberta, Nikkie once again calls PEI her home.
(Added: 4-Sep-2006 Hits: 139 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Fri., June 20th, Nikkie Newsletter June 08 Edition!
    Hello all,It's been a while so I thought I should check in with you folks. :)Some of you might have noticed www.nikkie.ca was went down last week, I'm very sorry if any of you were trying to access i...
  • Sat., June 2nd, Nikkie Newsletter - Cusp of Summer version
    Hey all,Since we talked last, I've bought a house in Charlottetown, and havebeen working steadily at getting it livable. Oddly enough, we'reliving in it now, and it's still not what I'd call livable.H...
  • Tue., August 8th, Attention indie lovers!
    Hey all,I got wind of a TV show that's currenly being filmed in Toronto that focuses on indie bands. It's called Small Room Live or SRL. You can check it out at http://www.smallroomlive.com I put a ba...
  • Fri., July 21st, Summer Tour NikkieNewsletter!!!
    Heya, I 'm posting my most recent newsletter in here, but I won't always be posting it. If you want to be on the newsletter list, please email me at nikkiemusic@gmail.com and I'll add you. There are s...

Patty and Eugene do UPEI - In this video documentary, follow Patty, a loud-mouthed party animal, and Eugene, his uber-academic roommate, through their days at UPEI.
(Added: 23-Jan-2007 Hits: 88 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Episode 6: The Hair Flip
    It's St. Patrick's Day, and time to party. Patty finally convinces Eugene to accompany him to the campus pub to celebrate, but not before Eugene gets a few pointers from Derek on how to be a smooth operator. This is the final installment of the adventures of Patty and Eugene.

    Video thumbnail. Click to play
    Click To Play
  • Episode 5: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
    After approximately six weeks of no Patty & Eugene to entertain you, the newest installment of everyone's favorite campus duo is back. Episode 5: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun comes in at a whopping 15 minutes of pure Patty and Eugene entertainment. Since it's too big for YouTube, you'll either have to subscribe to it in iTunes (recommended... use the link on the right) or check it out on Blip.tv.



    Check it out on Blip.tv or get the original video file

    You might be thinking that 15 minutes is just too long... We say "suck it up." Lets just say we've been making up for all these weeks of no P&E. Hope it was worth the wait!
  • Deleted Scene: Room Sectioning

    Another scene that didn't make the cut while we were editing Patty and Eugene Do UPEI. This time, Patty gets a little upset when Eugene decides that they should have sides to the room.
  • Deleted Scene: Mr. Fish
  • Episode 4: Boys Will Be Boys
    Eugene starts to work up the courage to talk to his secret crush as Patty grows more and more frustrated with that "guy from the library."

PEI Music Awards - This is a list of Radio@UPEI entries pertaining to the PEI Music Awards.
(Added: 26-Oct-2006 Hits: 123 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Sat., November 10th, Tonight! 2007 Prince Edward Island Music Awards Gala

    Tonight, Saturday November 10th marks the 2007 Ocean 100/K-Rock 105.5 Music PEI Music Awards Gala hosted by Kerri Wynne MacLeod.

    Show starts 8pm at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and will feature a tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Dr. Music, Doug Riley, and numerous performances by Music PEI awards nominees.

    Tickets for the awards gala are $22.50 and available at the Confederation Centre Box office, online at www.confederationcentre.com or by phone at 902-566-1267.

    read more

  • Wed., October 17th, Voting Begins for 2007 Music PEI Awards

    Online voting polls are now open and voting has begun for the 2007 Music PEI Awards. There are a total of 17 categories activated this year in which the membership can cast their vote. There are an additional 2 categories open to the public that can be voted on via local radio stations Ocean 100 and K-Rock 105.5 websites, www.ocean100.com and www.krock1055.com. The online voting polls will remain open until 11:59pm on October 31st for the member ballots but the public voting will continue until November 5th at 11:59pm.

    read more

  • Tue., October 16th, Music PEI Press Release: Nominee List

    After submissions from the best and the brightest that the Island has to offer and a lengthy deliberation by a jury of their peers Music P.E.I. is ready to announce the nominees for the 2007 Awards. In order for a category to be activated a minimum of 3 submissions must be received.

    read more

  • Mon., July 23rd, Music PEI Hiring 2007 Event Coordinator

    Music PEI is seeking an event coordinator for the 2007 awards show to take place in Charlottetown in late November at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. The position will commence in August and will run until mid-December.

    read more

  • Sat., June 16th, Nathan Wiley at NXNE 2007 (video)

    Radio@UPEI caught up with Summerside-born artist Nathan Wiley at North By North East 2007 in Toronto. Wiley has been touring on his new album, "The City Destroyed Me" which he released May 29, 2007.

    Tune in to this video for two new songs and an interview from the man himself.

    read more

Rock Snob Radio Podcast - A radio show featuring Al and Jussy and friends as we talk about the tunes that catch our attention and the local music scene around Charlottetown, PEI.
(Added: 2-Jan-2006 Hits: 173 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

  • Rock Snob Radio Episode 5 - The Return
    OK, so Jussy is still in the hospital, and we're all waiting impatiently for his triumphant return, but until then I've recruited Taylor to co-host the show with me and we recorded a new episode last night as we goofed around the Queen St. Commons before heading over to Indie Dance Night. Doing our best to lower the standard of discourse in every medium we can.

    Rock Snob Radio: Episode 5 (audio/mp3)

    Today's show is all indie rock all the time, because we evidently have something to prove. Here are the bands:

    Cave-In
    Dinosaur, Jr.
    Bear vs. Shark
    Wintersleep
    North of America

    Remember that you can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes by going to the Advanced menu and choosing 'Subscribe to Podcast' and pasting this URL into the box: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RockSnobRadio .
  • Show Review: The Dean Malenkos and Officer Girl
    (cross-posted to The Hallway: Link.)

    It's a good thing I've adopted the strategy of spending only a small amount of cash when I go out or this week would have killed me, between trivia / karaoke on Tuesday, OFU / Pat Deighan on Wednesday, Walter Shreifels / Bucket Truck on Thursday and tonight's show this week has been pretty much solidly ferocious.

    Tonight I was staring down the barrel of an evening shared with a programming book and my NES emulator, which gave me another good reason to leave the house even if I was on my own. I walked past one of those uniquely hilarious displays of rage outside of Myron's, the choice quote was "Oh yeah? Well I'll find the back door then I'm gonna burn this fucking place to the ground!" Apparently he was from Montague so he didn't give a shit. Good to know.

    Fortunately Gonzo got into Hunter's right after I did so I wasn't alone for very long. Also, my deciding to stay home and watch a Futurama episode I hadn't seen before ended up leading to near perfect timing as the Officer Girls started sound checking about right when I got there.

    Officer Girl (I don't honour novelty capitalizations, sorry, rusty.) started off playing my favourite song of their's from their first batch of songs that they played all over town this Summer.
    They started off pretty well, playing my favourite song of theirs, "Wreck Rip" I think it's called. (actually you can hear this one by going to officergirl.com and clicking on the big poster image thing.)


    The crowd that stood up as soon as they started knew all the songs and were familiar enough with the band to really get up and bop along. These girls are definitely still the hot band in town.

    The thing that keeps me listening to Officer Girl is that they seem to have a nack for throwing in very familiar-sounding chunks of some melody or riff lifted from some rock or pop song, and run through a rock tumbler to be punched around enough to fit with their off-cambre style. So your ears keep getting tingly feelings of familiarity while the rhythms keep on changing up and sneaking around to tap you on the other shoulder. There were a bunch of times when I was sure the song was over and they just switch right up into another time signature and keep on playing the same song. Unpredictable in a way that keeps my brain on its toes. These guys have some great talent, and by now everyone who cares about good, original music around here knows it.

    That was just the appetizer, though. I have to admit right here that I really didn't know much about the Dean Malenkos. I sort of ignored the PEILocals message board threads pimping their new website or what-have-you. I just figured they were some bar rock band by the sounds of the name. Good thing I stuck around to be proven a complete and utter idiot.

    Gonzo's description when I asked him what they were like was "twitchy punk" which I took to mean that they had a drummer who liked to think he was in charge of things. Usually that can be pretty cool, as long as I'm not in the band, in which case the drummer should simmer down and stop getting uppity. But if it's not me having to follow along to the crazy time changes and bizarre stops and starts then it can be pretty damn excellent to listen to. My interest was piqued.

    I knew things would be good when the drummer (Jon Empworth, the only member I really had ever heard of before) did his warmup and drilled the shit out of the drum kit like it was just sitting in his way. Before they started they began to taunt the crowd a little, like any good 'fighting against all odds' punk rock outfit should. They complimented Officer Girl, saying if they knew the opening band were going to be that good they would have practiced.


    As the Dean Malenkos started the people taking up the little area in front of the "stage" suddenly switched from being a friendly-looking crowd of mostly regulars to a rather more uniformly male and uniformly less sociable bunch, obviously people who had arrived just for them. That's usually not a bad thing except for the guy who thought that hardcore dancing on a 9 foot x 6 foot stage was a totally dope idea.

    ... behind the scenes as al cobbles together his review...

    al says:
    I'm listening to the songs on the malenkos' website and can't figure out if they played any given one or not
    al says:
    stupid punk rock

    ... that was your exclusive look behind the scenes of al's review embellishing magic.

    They did the make fun of PEI thing pretty consistently for most of their set, something I've heard enough times before to not find it all that ironic anymore, but they totally pwned our entire province when they actually played part of a Haywire song. There as absolutely nothing one can say to that. The closest anyone came was when the guy next to me pointed out that Dartmouth didn't really count as Halifax. A nice try, but didn't phase them, natch.

    As for the songs, punk rock is punk rock is loud and quick and punchy and not at all constructed to stay in your head. I remember the excellent drumming, and the pretty hilarious lyrics, but they didn't really cohesively form themselves into discrete units in my memory that I would remember as songs.

    Anyway, here are links to the songs on their website, to make up for my not being able to slip in names of songs into this review to try and sound like I know what I'm talking about:

    Norwegian Punk Song
    Bad Western Starring LL Cool J
    The Song About Eating Pussy
    Not My Problem
    I don't Wanna Cum On Your Face
    Christian Right

    Definitely the kind of thing I can never get enough of live but really
    can't sit down and listen to at home. The lyrics are chuckle-worthy and the energy is there, but it's not quite my thing in that environment, I suppose. Same goes for dance-y techno stuff, really. Gotta be in the right setting. But as live acts go, these guys gave me everything I wanted, and also THEY PLAYED CRAZY TRAIN. And didn't throw in any of that Sum 41 'we're too cool for this' bullshit, either. They played a hard song, showed that it was hard, and played it pretty well. Then later on they played "Panama", and even as the singer did the David Lee Roth "raach down between my legs" bit, you weren't made to feel like a loser for enjoying it. This also put them solidly in the camp of punk rock musicians who can really play their instruments well, for what it's worth.

    They seemed to have a good time, the way the stage was set up it didn't really give a lot of people a chance to move around, but then again it can often look pretty barren at a bigger stage like Myron's if it's not totally packed, and I got up as close as I wanted, so I can't really complain. The sound was certainly good. If they keep booking bills like this one Hunter's could really rise to the top of the local venues all on its own.
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  • Show Review: Pat Deighan & the Orb Weavers, Out From Under and Andrea
    (Cross-posted to The Hallway: Link.)

    This was a really great show tonight. I wasn't really planning on going anywhere or doing anything tonight, had a nice slow day, and was kind of kicking around the house just waiting to get tired enough to go to bed for the night. It's nights like that when wandering off by yourself to see a show really becomes appealing.

    Hunter's is big enough that the place can seem a little empty if it isn't brimming with people. That's how it looked when I got there around 10:30.

    I had some good conversations with a couple of dudes from Out From Under, especially the extremely attractive Jeff Cameron. We had to cut my diatribe about the PEI electoral system short because they needed to go set up the sound system, I almost said "Oh, good, it's about time." but I kept my mouth shut.

    First up was Andrea playing solo. Normally she's the MC for Baba's Open Mic Night, where she's been steadily and humbly doing her thing for quite a while now, playing a few songs each night before the rest of the performers come on. Normally she'll do a few of her own songs and a few covers, her version of “Basement Apartment” left her voice in my head when I think of that song instead of Sarah Harmer's, and I've only seen her do it once. But tonight was a bit of a coming out event for her, and she did all her own songs. Unfortunately her guitar pickup was causing a bit of a buzzing in the sound system (my little guitar does the same thing, a pain I know all too well.) but as long as she was playing it it wasn't very noticeable.

    Andrea's singing is very powerful, her voice reminds me a lot of Dar Williams, one of my favourite folk singers. They both have a voice that projects confidence and seriousness without being at all shrill or too high-pitched. Her playing is standard acoustic pop/folk fair, with steady rhythm and lots of interesting quick little chord changes, and her playing never took a back seat while she was singing, she can balance the two very nicely.

    And her lyrics are worth paying attention to as well, mostly little sad songs but the few happy ones she has make you really smile. Even the sad songs have their poignant moments that bring a smile to your face. She writes intelligent lyrics that aren't just about boys. One funny moment came when she had written a new verse to one of her songs but didn't have it memorized, so she wrote it out on her arm and had to roll up her sleeve before playing the song. I hope she gets to play more shows in front of more poeple, she's got something good going on to be sure.

    Out From Under came on next. The last couple of times I've seen them they've opened for some other band. In my opinion I'd have put them at the end each time, but maybe they're too humble or generous for that. It's OK, though, they still get their groove on very nicely. OFU's country sound storms out of the gates and dominates their other influences enough that I really don't hesitate to call them a country band anymore.

    The singing style is pretty similar to the Corb Lund Band, if you've ever heard them. Beefy but lighthearted lyrics about sometimes bizarre subjects. You can tell that they have a total blast writing and performing music, and there's no reason why it shouldn't be all about having fun.

    They're all about the shuffle rhythm, really great for getting people dancing, which a few eventually did even though it was a bit of a slow night at Hunter's. Their new bass player could really hold down the fort with his playing, he fit in perfectly with the rest. And their guitar playing is always superb with extended melodic playing through most of a song that is of the skill of most people's guitar solos.

    The drumming was nice and lively as well, with the bass and the guitars there was always a bit of a blur between the rhythm and lead sections, with one melting into the other really nicely the way a good jam band is able to.

    Last up was Pat Deighan and the Orb Weavers. I've always enjoyed these guys when I've seen them, which was always to open for some other act, most recently they opened for Mark Bragg and did an excellent job of getting people warmed up.

    Now that I've seen them about 3 times or so it's to the point where I know their songs well enough to remember a few snatches of verses and remember how the riffs and solos go. They're rather less adventurous than OFU are, perhaps because of the nature of the makeup of the band and the fact that it's much less of a melee.

    The drummer kept kind of quiet most of the set, just keeping time and not really making himself noticed. Then in the second-last song he really let loose and pounded out some pretty rapid-fire sequences. I don't know why he saved himself up like that, he could have really been a lot less pedestrian for the whole show. The last song had some more skilled drumming as well with a few tight time signature changes, not something that the band does very much of right now.

    The guitar playing is the strongest part of their sound, very aggressive and tight with good interplay between rhythm and lead. You can tell that the creative force behind the band is nearly all in the guitar playing. That leaves the bass to just take up following the melodic line and not really mark its own territory.

    If I was a manager and this band played a tryout in front of me the first thing I would do is match them up with some little guy who's completely off his nut crazy to sing for them. Someone who could really let loose and show some real feeling in his singing. The singer seems like he's concentrating more on his playing and almost doesn't have it in him to really put the same punchiness into his vocals as he so naturally does in the guitar playing.

    I think they'd do a great job backing up some unhinged maniac singer. If anything it would grab people's attention and be a real stage presence to be reckoned with. That's not to say that they're not enjoyable to watch now, but right now it's more an exercise in watching a great guitar player show off his stuff with a band and try to sing at the same time than to really watch a group of players flourish to their full potential.
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  • Pull Your Pants Up
    from Jamie Davie... (some of you who get this might already know..)

    (17:34:05) Can't Keep A Good Pants Down: Just got a call from
    Nick(Justin's Brother). Justin woke up today, is recognizing
    everybody. Trying to talk, but they still have a tube in his throat.
    They're hoping to take that out and put him on a mask tomorrow, so we
    all may be able to see him in a few days, hopefully

    also... just in case some don't know Justin is suffering from ards..

    more info here... http://args.org

    Yippie Justin is improving!!!!
    tell whoever should know.. :)
  • (no subject)
    this is an audio post - click to play

Roy Johnstone, musician - Roy Johnstone has been a vital force in the East Coast musical community for the past twenty seven years. Not only is he one of the most accomplished fiddle players in Atlantic Canada but he has also received accolades for both his music compositions and his studio production.
(Added: 3-Dec-2005 Hits: 222 Rating: 0 Votes: 0) Rate It

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