EAT THE DOCUMENTARY

here's the trailer for the upcoming silkworm documentary. look, there's me!

SCOTT WALKER

so, last night ryan and i went to see the new scott walker documentary that was part of the vancouver international film festival. even though i am a devout scott walker fan, i gotta say it kinda sucked. not that he sucks in any way or that the new and archival footage wasn't amazing, but the film in itself was just kind of shitty. it was so fucking british it hurt. i mean, i just really don't care about a bunch of random british pop stars (goldfrapp?!) raving about how genius he is and listening to his albums track by track. and don't even get me started about the fucking computer animation screen saver-like music video interludes.

the movie only really worked when it focused on the man himself and on his art. and his art is fucking scary these days. his latest album, the drift, which came out last year is maybe one of the scariest sounding albums EVER. right up there with nico's the marble index or gorgoroth's under the sign of hell. and his voice is kind of high and frail and creepy now, too. it sure gives me the willys!
it's pretty amazing to see the progression from easy listening pop crooner all the way through literate jacques brel-obsessed artiste to total reclusive maniac trying to get the perfect percussion sound by repeatedly punching a side of beef in the studio. that's right, meat. and there's plenty of footage of it.
thing is, the meat punching does sound pretty decent in the end. i guess it's just the sound of an artist who takes full advantage of the freedom to be as self-indulgent and goth and over the top as possible. i wanna punch meat.

I LIKE SADE

i like sade, ok. a lot. in fact i just recently got her first 3 albums on vinyl AND cd (actually, i got all 5 of her albums on cd). what the fuck you ask? shit's smooth. i recommend her third album stronger than pride, or love deluxe which came out a few years later. both are full of that fake jazz fretless bass and synth pan flute vibe that completely rules it for me. i realize this shit may be a bit deep for the average asshole, so i'll include the disclaimer that this is strictly for the heads (and my mom).

FIVE VAMPIRES

1. VAMPIRE WEEKEND
i should hate this. it's a kind of upbeat poppy strokes-go-calypso paul simon graceland kinda vibe that totally reeks of college. in fact, in one song he even mentions something about "seeing you on campus..." or something. barf.
BUT, i kind of think the whole white dudes playing african music thing works out sometimes, take the afformentioned graceland or talking heads circa fear of music and remain in light for example. and this shit IS pretty catchy. this reminds me of that french band phoenix, ever checked them out? things stray a bit close to ska territory in a couple places, but overall "i'm feelin' it" as blink 182 says. also, they sound cute. girls will love this.

2. NECROSCOPE by brian lumley
this is the first in a huge series of novels about a guy who can talk to the dead and fights communist vampires across the space-time continuum.

3. NOSFERATU MAN by slint
when i was in grade 8 somebody lent me a tape that had slint spiderland on one side and something else i can't remember on the other. to say that it blew my mind is an understatement. i basically became completely obsessed with this band and everything connected to them, which led me to bands like tortoise and the palace brothers among others. i can remember listening to that tape and just really feeling it, you know? i listened to it so much back then that i can't really do it anymore, it makes me feel like i'm 14 again, which is to say horribly awkward and crippled by self loathing. i tried listening to it again recently and all i could think was: dude, what the fuck is up with your epic goth math rock spoken word album?
this song is pretty goth and vampire-y and gets kinda heavy and has a fucking killer two guitar part that i still involuntarily air guitar along to.

4. FUN VAMPIRES (aka FUNPIRES)
you know those people who always have to get serious about things? you'll be hanging out with a few people, talking, having a good time and then so-and-so pipes in with something heavy or inappropriate that just kills the vibe instantly. or they'll be more subtle, bringing attention to themselves, complaining about how cold or hungry they are, trying to make their problems everyone else's, making sure everyone is aware of how shitty the music is and so on. total energy suckers.
oh wait, i'm a fun vampire.

5. KINSKI AS NOSFERATU DIRECTED BY HERZOG
a no-brainer.

FACES OF DEATH

WHAT THEE FUCK?

I FEEL SO JAZZED!

So, we played our first show in vancouver in a while last wednesday...
It was at a great venue called the sweatshop which features an indoor skatepark as well as a stage, so if you feel overcome by the music and feel like you need to express yourself physically, you can hop on your board and rip extreme shit on the quarter-pipe.
Being a weeknight, i was feeling a bit sluggish, so ryan and i agreed to share an energy drink to try to pep things up. This is not something i usually do. I tried to counter the jarring effects of the caffeine by smoking some of the "devil's lettuce", which, if anything, heightened the sensations of doom and anxiety i was already beginning to feel. My hands began to sweat. In any case, by the time we played I was feeling, let's just say "funky" (if your definition of funky is a state of extreme paranoia and panic coupled with heart palpitations and nausea). Good times.
I think we played really fast and it seemed stupid loud, but other than that it i guess it was alright, in a car crash kind of way...


The voice of Karen Carpenter haunts my mind.

We played with a local band called CARPENTER who rocked out hard and the singer had a great raspy voice. They kind of reminded me of some old Samiam or Sunny Day Real Estate which i think is a good thing. Nothing wrong with that. They started their set by saying something about supporting farmers and spreading the gospel of MELLENCAMP. They had a copy of american fool by their merch, a hoosier-core classic.



The main event of the evening was ATTACK IN BLACK. I saw them for the first time last weekend opening for Built To Spill in Edmonton. They are a great band and I'm not gonna lie to you, they're not hard on the eyes either (if you know what I mean). They may just be tied with The Constantines for dreamiest band in Canada. If you haven't checked them out yet, you should. These dudes are young and they're killing it, and not unlike The Constantines, they play a kind of honest, driving indie rock that you know had it's roots as much in punk and hardcore as it did in Bruce Springsteen.
We are going to be playing a bunch of shows with these total dream-pies in mid november, smearing ourselves all over southern Ontario and "la belle provence", so look out!