Artist Of The Month: “The National”

I was torn between Band of Horses & The National for this month’s Artist of the Month post but I decided The National were a more suiting fit seeing as they have album due out in May of this year. Well let’s start the story off with how I first heard of them. If you look a few blogs back for Modest Mouse way back in July of 2008 they were playing together in Toronto, I wanted to go to that show and I wrote about it. Well that was the first time I had heard about them. Recently I downloaded Alligator and Boxer and have fallen in love with the band. I looked up some live appearences from the band and was kind of dissapointed with the lead singers voice, his signature baritone sound is missing and it takes away from the music. However, I still would go see them live given the chance.

Listening to “Boxer” I fell in love with the group “Fake Empire” was the first song I had heard from the group, I liked it instantly. Some people say they are a hard band to get into, well not for me. From there “Mistaken for strangers”, ect. I loved the album and like most bands, I looked up their earlier work and it was better. Alligator amazed me far beyond Boxer. Not taking anything away from Boxer, it is a great album but I prefer Alligator. It is collection of some beautiful music and if none of you have ever heard of the National.. Go check ‘em out.

The National

Haiti

I’m sure you already know about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The capital is in ruins, streets are blocked, dead bodies everywhere, everything is gone and destroyed. This is a tradegy and I want everyone to realize that more people need to take action when such events occur. This natural disaster in Haiti is one of the worst things that could have happened to the instable country. The infastructure of the country is already beyond poor, the government is severly lacking in every department and the people are suffering as a consequence. This is beyond sad, I want to help. I want people to know and to have a more active role in helping others in need.

People are still alive trapped under rubble, calling for help… pretty much none of them will make it out alive and that is the brutal truth. It is such a cruel way to go. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Haiti.

Text HELP to 1291 if you are in canada and your cellphone company is with rogers or fido. 5$ will be donated to the disaster relief in Haiti.

Earthquake damage in Haiti

Arctic Monkeys: Metropolis Review 14/12/09

So, the entire week I didn’t think I was going to be making to this show since my friend who going up with us crashed his car. What ended up happening was the day of the show me and one of my friends who had never heard the band decided that we were gonna go. We wen’t to the train station and got our tickets. Left late and got into Montreal at about 8 pm. As soon as we got off we got ourselves some Tim Hortons as usual then went to the closest Dep. Picked up some beer, drinking while walking by the bell center… tons of Montreal Canadians Fans are all over the street for the game. After this we walked under a bridge and chugged our beers and smoked a joint. We kept moving since we were already way late for the show. Once we got to the Metropolis we walked inside right away. Who is the first person we see by his distinctive dreads… our friend. We walk up to him and say our hello’s. We all got ourselves some beer and then more beer and then… after about 15 to 20 minutes. They came out.

arctic monkeys live

They opened the packed Metropolis with “Dance little liar”. A fitting song to set the tone for the evening. Me and Shane push our way upfront. The closest we were at this point was on the right side of the floor near the stairs and bar. Next came bursting out with “Brianstorm”… Matt always shines with this, so damn good. We kept our spot for a while not being able to get passed the horde of people comming off of the stairs, it was a shitty position, I can’t lie, haha. Another great song came next from my personal favorite ‘Monkeys album “Favorite worst nightmare”.. “This House is a Circus”. The collective yelling of “We’re forever unfulfilled” Is awesome, I love it. It’s just a bouncy song. A personal favorite of mine since I have seen them before came next “Still take you home” and it’s such a great high energy song, I wish I would have been closer to the front at that point but whatever. After they came to a epic closing of “Still take you home” they came out with the haunting “potion approaching”. A beauty off of their new album “Humbug”. Such a beautiful vibe from this song… One thing I noticed at this point was that their performace here was 10 times better then their performace at Osheaga. They are deffinitly worth seeing in this type of setting. Next came their Nick Cave cover “Red Right Hand”, a nice fucking song. The lights were really nice, I was pretty high and buzzed. At the same time we are slowly making progression towards getting closer. To be honest the next song was “Catapult” and I have no idea what song that is. I have never heard it and frankly I don’t remember too much about it except for the green lights. The next two songs were highlights from Humbug the double hitter of “Crying Lightning” and “My Propeller”. A suprising amount of people knew the words for these songs. During the end of “Crying Lightning” we found a “Crowd train” and made our way to the pit. As soon as we got there “The view from the afternoon” came bursting out and the pit started. I didn’t waste anymore time. When I was in the back I felt like I was the only one really into it, but in the pit I knew everyone was having a great time, screaming at the top of their longs to the lyrics and dancing like idiots. “The view from the afternoon” is such a fucking good sing-a-long. It’s powerful and it was a great performance of it. The crowd loved it. After this “Cornerstone” was next and they did it beautifully. I really appreciated hearing these song’s live a second time after really having got into the “Humbug” album, It was a little pushy and the crowd had a nice sing a long once again and lighters were up in the air. I felt It was comming soon and then it did. “I bet that you look good on the dance floor” came rushing out and everyone fucking loved it. It was so much fun to just chill in the pit, drunk and high and get tossed around/toss people around and appreciate a solid live performance at the same time. Everyone knows this was one of the highlights. Next was “If you were there, beware”. I love this song so much. I basically stood to the side a bit for this one and just watched Alex closely and appreciated the beauitful music. After this I figured time to get back to the pit. “Pretty visitors” came on and the pit was solid, as i did my thing I notice shane like 4 feet from the bar right up front. I had lost him way back in the show. My other friend Ryan was at the bar with some other friends. anyways, I throw myself infront and push and get right there infront. Everyone was sweaty as fuck. It was so good, a nice sing a long for this new gem aswell. After this It was possibly my favorite Arctic Monkeys song “Do me a favour”. The red lights lit the room and i was right upfront and enjoyed a solid performance of one of my most favorite ‘Monkeys song’s. “Fluorescent Adolescent” was next which is always a crowd pleaser. I love the tougne twisting lyrics. Once again a beautiful performance, the weird thing was though I think it was after this… I’m not sure, Matt Helders came out and sang “last christmas” and the crowd loved it. That’s when most of the crowd surfing happened. After this they finished up and left the stage. The crowd pounded and chanted and screamed for them. They came back out with the obvious encore of which I knew they were closing with “505″. I wanna see them mix up their setlist’s a little more but hey, whatever. They came back out with “Secret Door” which was fucking amazing. It was such a great performance of the song it had the room captivated. Loved it so much and then, the dark blue depressing lights signaling the end of the show come down with Alex’s haunting voice singing the opening lyrics to “505″. The crowd was excellent though I have to say. A really pumped out show. They left after this. A very, very good performance. Some highlights of the show and a million times better then their Osheaga peroformance.

arctic monkeys montreal

Setlist
1. Dance Little Liar
2. Brianstorm
3. This House Is A Circus
4. Still Take You Home
5. Potion Approaching
6. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave cover)
7. Catapult
8. My Propeller
9. Crying Lightning
10. View From The Afternoon
11. Cornerstone
12. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
13. If You Were There, Beware
14. Pretty Visitors
15. Do Me A Favour
16. Fluorescent Adolescent / Last Christmas

17. Encore:
17. Secret Door
18. 505

After this we went out onto the street and hung out with Shane and the people he came with. Smoked about 4 joints and me and Ryan met up with the two people who’s hotel room we were sleeping in for the night. Once we finish the little session we mission it back to the hotel and start drinking a bit, get some sleep and me and Ryan peaced at 5 in the morning. It was a beautiful morning in Montreal with the snow and all. Got some coffee and then hit the train station.

Montreal

The Cold Part

It’s November in Canada. December in a couple days…

Arctic Monkeys Update

So, like I had said in the previous post. I would post a picture of the tickets along with an update. So I went to Montreal today to grab the tickets and while I was there stopped in a shop and baught some Arcade Fire Vinyl, figured I might as well. Well, here you go.

Arctic Monkeys Show

Arctic Monkeys Montreal

Just found out that the Arctic Monkeys will be playing at the Metropolis in Montreal on December 14th. I had said at Osheaga that I would much rather see them play at a smaller venue such as the Metropolis and now they are so it pretty much is an oppurtunity I can’t pass up. It will deffinitly be a good show. I’ll be driving up there with some friends for the show, I’ll post a picture of the tickets later this week once I go get them. I will be picking them up at Metropolis on Thursday, so… It shouldn’t be too long before you see another post, Cheers!

A fraction of the sun.

I haven’t felt like this in a long time…

Artist of the Month: “The Flaming Lips”

With today being the release date of their new album “Embryonic”, I felt It was only right to declare them this month’s artist of choice. Recently, I’ve been listening to their masterpiece “The Soft Bulletin”. All week long I’ve been returning back to their magnum opus. Such an amazing piece of music there. I doubt they will ever top that, not to say their new music is sub-par or anything. Just personally, that Is my favorite album of theirs. They are branching off into a different spectrum of music with their new album, although not shockingly opposite to their previous work, their new album is deffinitly taking on a different sound. It is more Noise-Rock then ever before. I first got a listen to it when they were streaming the entire album on colbertnation.com Steven Colbert of “The Colbert Reports” website. I was expecting some good ‘ol Lips. You know the kind weve been listening to from their past three cd’s. It was a little different this time. I am deffinitly enjoying the new approach they are taking. The music is still very good, the instrumentals being the highlight of course. I will be picking up their new album sometime this week so I can have myself a physical copy of the piece of music. If you haven’t heard it, it’s all over the internet. But as I say, It is much better to physically own the piece of music rather then downloading it for free. Support the musicians.

Here is the album art for their new album.

Embryonic album art

Tracklist
Disc one
# Title Length
1. “Convinced of the Hex” 3:56
2. “The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine” 4:14
3. “Evil” 5:38
4. “Aquarius Sabotage” 2:11
5. “See the Leaves” 4:24
6. “If” 2:05
7. “Gemini Syringes” (featuring Thorsten Wörmann (spoken word equations) and Karen O (clicking gunshot sounds)) 3:41
8. “Your Bats” 2:35
9. “Powerless” 6:57

Disc two
# Title Length
10. “The Ego’s Last Stand” 5:41
11. “I Can Be a Frog” (featuring Karen O) 2:14
12. “Sagittarius Silver Announcement” 2:59
13. “Worm Mountain” (featuring MGMT) 5:21
14. “Scorpio Sword” 2:02
15. “The Impulse” 3:31
16. “Silver Trembling Hands” 3:59
17. “Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast” (featuring Thorsten Wörmann) 3:44
18. “Watching the Planets” (featuring Karen O) 5:17

Hopefully they will be releasing some tour dates soon, I cannot wait until I get to see the ‘Lips.

Artist of the Month: “Built To Spill”

I may be a little bit late to say this but… I recently purchased “Perfect From Now On” by Built to Spill. It is honestly one of my favorite cd`s I have listened too In a long while. I had “Keep it like a secret” for a good 5 months now, I love that cd dont get me wrong. However, It didn`t send me into a wave of Built to Spill. I just enjoyed those tracks and never searched for more. How dumb of me. I would never have found this gem had I kept up with that attitude. “Perfect From Now On” Is a beautiful, amazing work of art. The boys crafted themselves a well rounded masterpiece (in my opinion). Track after track this album flows and gets steadily more and more intense. The lyrics and instrumentals are amazing. It makes me think of Modest Mouse – not the music but the way I feel when I hear it.

I feel I should write this and I chose them as this month`s artist to write about because of the intensity and impact the music has had on me. It`s amazing. Also, Built to Spill will be releasing a new album next month titled “There Is No Enemy”. They will also be doing a tour to support this upcomming release. However they do not have a date near me, the closest is in Toronto and I do not have the money right now to go. Too bad they couldn`t come to Montreal. The track listing for the new album will be posted bellow. Now do me a favour and pick yourself up a copy of “Perfect From Now On” and start from there. This album has sparked an interest for me to collect their total discography. Give it a real listen. Built to Spill are an amazing band and even as late as 2009 it is still always nice to be able to appreciate this music.

Here is a link to their new single off of their new album
The single is called “Hindsight” and has been around for a long time now.

Built to spill there is no enemy

Track listing

1. “Aisle 13″
2. “Hindsight”
3. “Nowhere Lullaby”
4. “Good Ol’ Boredom”
5. “Life’s a Dream”
6. “Oh Yeah”
7. “Pat”
8. “Done”
9. “Planting Seeds”
10. “Things Fall Apart”
11. “Tomorrow”

Modest Mouse: Metropolis Review 19/08/09

It started with a long drive with nothing to think about… That’s a lie. There was plenty to think about seeing as we were going to see Modest Mouse the following day. We got a drive out to some random city in the middle of Quebec about a hour away from Montreal. A friend and I spent the entire day getting really high in the country watching horses and wild dogs… Beautiful scenery. Then we headed back into town at night, we went to the Condo we were staying at got our shit ready and headed for McDonald’s. Smoked two joints while walking down some random city finally we spot a McDonald’s. We get some McFlurry’s and then head out to just wander around the place. After we headed back and crashed. The morning after we got up early, ate breakfast and headed out to Montreal.

As soon as we got to Montreal we took the Metro and headed to our Hotel. We checked in and then we waiting began, we were beyond excitied for Modest Mouse. After we checked in we went out to the Mall and got some food, bought plenty of water and walked around. We went to the park found a nice spot, chilled and blazed. Headed back to our hotel, dropped our stuff off then back out we went. Walking up to the Metropolis we spot about 10 people outside for Modest Mouse, so we go and stand in line. It was a very long wait but so very worth it. It was hot and we had plenty of water, Music Plus showed up with their vehicle hosting their flags outside the venue. I was plenty hungry – seeing as we smoke so much marijuana. So I decided to leave my friend in line and go get pizza. I wen’t down the block and found a little pizza place and I got served by a 7 year old kid. He was cool. Good pizza too…. Back in the line I went, feeling alot better at this point we just chilled until the doors opened.

As soon as they let everyone in me and my friend ran up to the right side of the stage and securing a spot on the gate right infront of Mr. Isaac Brock. I was so happy to have the perfect spot. We waited inside the venue talking with the random people around us until the opening band came on. They came on a little after 8 p.m and played a very short set. It was nice though… I had listened to The Dutchess & The Duke before I went to the show but I didn’t think too much of them. But live I caught myself head bobbing and pounding on the gate along to their songs. Deffinitly a nice small opening band. After they played it was the real wait now. Until the lights dimmed and the boys of Modest Mouse came out onto the stage infront of me. It felt like forever. The guitar tech’s and stage crew rushing all over the stage after the opening band getting thing’s ready for Modest Mouse. After about a 45 minute wait, give or take… the moment was finally here.

Me on the front gate for modest mouse (im in the white with the hat)

Out walk’s Eric Judy, Tom, Jeremiah, Joe, Jim all of em’ then out of our side of the stage walk’s Isaac Brock. Comming out flush faced with his hair in a mess ready to get down to buisness. They grab their respected instrument’s say a few words and launch right into the first song of the night. “Gravity Rides Everything”. They played this at Halifax, the first show of the tour. So I had high hopes of them playing it there. They did… they opened with it! I was screaming and singing along to every word. Mezmerized by guitar crazed Isaac. That 4 minutes was so fucking beautiful. Next came another great song “Never ending math equation”. Honestly, at this point of the show I was like “How could this get any better?” . But it did… Jumping up and down through the whole song. Amazing way to open a concert. Next they started jamming out to Bury me with it which had a nice sing-a-long. Isaac is alot more agressive live then I imagined. He plays guitar so damn good, getting right into the music and dancing like a rushed on coke fiend throwing his guitar in the air and slamming on the whammy bar. The way he screams is beyond amazing live. Isaac is a genius. They came next with “Satelitte Skin” which came out to a rocky start, with Isaac playing the intro three times before they were finally satisfied and finished the song. The song “Education” is so much better live then I ever could have thought. Isaac screamed the entire song and they jammed out on the end which was very epic. The sound was so damn good and never thought the show was gonna have such good sound. When they didn “The World At Large” I was shocked to hear this. Isaac messed up alot on the lyrics but I really didn’t mind. The rest of the band filled in the spaces nicely with the “Buh buh buh” thing. I wan’t to make note of Isaac’s guitar playing during the last half of this song. It gets intense slamming on his guitar in tremelo picking and gaining speed/sound until the song comes to crashing closing. “The Whale Song” is totally epic live. Everything they played was top notch with the boys seeming like they were having a good time, the crowd was pumped. I was screaming along to every damn word. Isaac’s mic had some fuzz when he would grab it, having asked the crew to fix it several times throughout the night. He say’s “Fuck it, you know what? That’s just how it is”. When they played “The Whale Song” I knew what to expect. Althought exceeding my expectations once again I wasn’t left in shock after the song. It was great to hear but not mind blowing for me like some people are saying. He asked the crowd to be quite at one point so he could here what someone else in the crowd was yelling to him and suggested that it was a good idea and they were working tomorrows setlist tonight, haha. Next was “Satin in a coffin” Which was actually supposed to be “King Rat” (According to the official setlists for the show). But something came in the way of that and “Satin in a coffin” was played in it’s place instead. Althought I can’t complain. I’ve wanted to hear both of those songs. I think I would have rather heard “King Rat” but “Satin in a coffin” blew my mind. When he grabs his mic’s and shouts with all his might into them its a sight to be seen thats all I have to say. When they played “Dramamine” They had Dan from Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs come out and jam with them, they added the Life Like Weed’s tease and the new jam, Dramamine live is so good. It must have been about 9 minutes long. I had goosebumps during this song. Watching Isaac in awe not focusing on much else. I wish I had brought my camera. Once “Dramamine” came to an epic finish. They decided it was time to satisfy the children. Say hello to “Dashboard”. I can’t lie, I never liked this song on the album. Live it’s a completely different story. I almost didn’t want to get crazy for this song in an effort not to look like a new Modest Mouse fan. Mind you, I couldn’t help myself. This song is TOO damn catchy live with the drums and everything. Pretty shocked. It was deffinitly good. Next was a song that was not on the setlist “Paper thin Walls” they launch right into it not wasting any time at all. Satisfying, not mind blowing. Once the finished with that they came out with their acoustics. Which is always nice to see. “Here it comes” makes it’s way into the setlist. “Grass grows green.” Absolutely love this song and everything about it. Such a different vibe live but none the less amazing. After that they bursted out “Shit Luck” I don’t know how long that song hasnt been played live for but goddamn it’s so much more powerfull live. I headbanged my ass off up infront of Isaac screaming the words. The next song was also a song not on the official setlist. It was “Black Cadillacs” which is pretty damn powerful live. Wasn’t expecting it to be like that. After which came an epic song. “Parting of the Sensory” at this point I had a feeling they were winding down for the night. The lyrics “We pulled the trigger but we forgot to cock with every single shot, aw fuck it I guess we lost”. When Isaac screams that it is so fucking powerful I can’t explain. It makes me shiver, well it did when I heard it live. Comming to it’s epic closing. I was pouding my fist on the front gate the entire show. So damn good. Then they decided it was time to bust out “Doin’ the cockroach”. About damn time too, the crowd loved it. Well I was lovin’ it. Jumpin’ through pretty much the entire song. Such a damn good live song and they jammed with it a bit. What a nice way to end the main set to the show. After this they walked off of the stage for a good 10-15 minutes. At least it felt that long. When they came back out the place went nuts. They grab their shit and jump into “Interstate 8″. I went apeshit. I’m so fucking glad they played this, making this setlist damn near perfect. I hoisted myself on the gate during the chorus just to get myself that much closer to isaac to scream the lyrics. After that was something I didn’t expect. Here comes the “All night dinner” an older tune that I didn’t even think that they would play at this show. One of the best songs of the night. Isaac was so damn into it. After which they played a nice version of “The View” and closed the show with “Missed the boat”. Could have been a better last song but I really have no complaints. The entire show I couldn’t have asked for more they played some of my favorite songs. Sure there was songs i wanted to hear that I didn’t but I don’t mind. I will see them again. I will post the set-list. I just want to say that I had heard alot of bad and good things about Modest Mouse live, this was my first time seeing them and from this I will say they are fucking incredible. Amazing concert. Probably my favorite concert ive ever been to for the fact that it’s my favorite band.

Setlist
Gravity Rides Everything
Never Ending Math Equation
Bury Me With It
Satellite Skin
Education
The World At Large
The Whale Song
Satin In A Coffin
Dramamine (With Dan Boeckner from Wolf Parade)
Dashboard
Paper Thin Walls
Here It Comes
Shit Luck
Black Cadillacs
Parting Of The Sensory
Doin’ The Cockroach

Encore:

Interstate 8
All Night Diner
The View
Missed The Boat

Modest Mouse live in Montreal

After this we headed out to the store got food then to the hotel. We slept, I woke up early so i missioned it around Montreal in the early hours of Thursday. Got some smokes, haha. I love Montreal and I love Modest Mouse. After I got back to the hotel I woke my friend up and we checked out. Headed to HMV picked up some cd’s and vinyl’s then to High Times which was closed. I needed a piece for my bong but I was out of luck.

Modest Mouse