Because I'm a girl . . .

So I get that I am addicted to a show that is marketed to 12 year old girls, but whateverthefuck. I don't give a shit. If this does not make you cry, you are not human.

Really . . . . .

I was going to wait until I was slightly less pissed at having missed this to say anything, but I can not. One of the very few benefits of living in Toronto is that I get to see more BSS than anyone. If you have read any of my earlier posts, you know that I have been waiting DESPERATELY to see 17 people on a stage again for a couple of years now. Not that the smaller BSS incarnations of recent years have not been fabulous and better than anything else out there, but I fucking loved the S/T era BSS when shows were a minimum of 15 people. So imagine my absolute frustration when I found out that my sister's friends decided that July 11 would be the perfect date for her surprise birthday dinner. Not that I do not love my sister and not that there was even any question that I would go - but because I went to that, I missed 19 fucking people on a stage. Not only that, according to the videos on YouTube - it may have been the best show in years, in particular, Anthems with all 3 girls looked absolutely magical. I can only hope that with the new album come more shows like Saturday night - I know, I'm delusional - let's just let me have that pipe dream for now so that I don't have to kill anyone.

Anyway, not much else to say about it other than that I knew my sister was going to be trouble the day they brought her home from the hospital 33 years ago - I told them to take her back, but no one ever listens to me!!!!

I guess this means it's time to grow up now huh?

Fellow Toronto music lovers and radio listeners have been dealt a swift blow today after learning of the death of Martin Streek yesterday. A veteran host at CFNY (yes, I refuse to call it the EDGE . . . I'm old skool) and a huge cultural significance to myself - his live to air shows from various Toronto clubs over the course of his tenure were the last remaining bright spot on an otherwise fairly abysmal local radio scene. He was my last and final reason to tune in to what was once a cutting edge (pardon the pun) media outlet, in recent years turned centrist, pandering, commercial enterprise. Martin was fired a few months ago after 20 years as one of the 4 (the other 3 being Strombo, Alan Cross and Booky) driving forces behind Toronto's local music scene receiving it's due airplay before all the Can-Con quotas. They truly made a lasting impression on the musical fabric of this city as well as on my personal musical existence.
Sadly, yesterday afternoon after posting what now seems ominously to have been his 'farewell' to the world on his Facebook page "So … I guess that's it … thanks everyone … I'm sorry to those I should be sorry to, I love you to those that I love, and I will see you all again soon (not too soon though) … Let the stories begin," , Streek ended his own life. He truly had one of the most distinctive voices in radio history, not just in Toronto and I have been hearing his voice echoing in my head all day - spooky. The one thing that keeps popping up in my mind is back in the day when Strombo still worked at CFNY and was the junior member of the team, Martin always referred to him as George Sloppydroopypants - silly, but I keep hearing him say it in my head and it makes me laugh every time.

I remember the first time I met and chatted with Martin in the mid 90's at a Live to Air show at the Phoenix - he was a force in any room. I have since run into him all over the city at various events, shows and clubs and he always had a smile and in most recent years even remembered me each time. I feel like my adolescence has just disappeared, time to grow up I guess. Cheers to ya Marty, listening to NIN and The Clash in your honour tonight brother. You will be missed.

**EDIT - new update:

So I have had to ‘justify’ my sadness over Martin’s passing to a few people over the past couple of days so I thought I would share here why I have felt so saddened by his passing.
I spent 2 years lying in a hospital bed when I was 17 years old. While my sister and friends were using fake ID to get into Martin’s Live to Air shows at the Phoenix on Saturday Nights, I spent 2 years of Saturday nights talking to a friend on the phone (he didn’t go to the Phoenix because I couldn’t go – never really thanked him properly for that . . .), both of us listening to Martin live from the Phoenix. Martin was the voice who made me feel, if only for a couple of nights a week, that I was not missing my ENTIRE adolescence. I met Marty the first time a couple of years after that and thanked him for keeping me up to date and being the voice of my sanity for those years, he was gracious to say the least. I have been running into him all over the city for over 15 years since then and he always had a smile and a wink. In the past 5 years or so he always sought me out when he saw me, and stopped to chat. So to those who have questioned why, I say – I get to feel sad about this because I just do – so there. I will be sure to give a smile and wink at the booth this Saturday. Cheers Marty.

Wayback machine

So I feel like I got in a time machine last night and went back to pre hiatus days circa 2005 ish. What an awesome night! Whitey, Kev, Charlie, Brendan, Sammmy, Liam, Lisa, Leslie, Cranley, Julie, John(!!!), Ohad, Jason, JP . . . epic night. The 6 new tracks were hot, they did some old faves: 7/4, Almost, Fire Eye'd, MLD and the elusive New Country (New Country people - haven't heard that live in about 6 years!), plus the oft heard (at recent shows) anthemic Meet Me In the Basement - new album promising to be stellar. With their new tracks they seem to be waving their indie flag pretty furiously, with less "excessive vocal reverb" and "stabby guitar delay" (yes, that was a dig at Pitchfork).

The AoH set was, as always, an adventure - different arrangements keeping everyone guessing, Jason's set with Zeus was hot in his totally cool way, and then there was the Happiness Project and Years. I don't think everyone in the audience quite understood the artistry of Ohad or Charlie as the DMST boys displayed their phenomenal 'art projects'.

The vibe of the evening in general was much like a high school reunion of sorts (espescially since I did actually go to High School with some members of the band) - like a return home after exploring what the big bad world had to offer and realizing that home is so much more magical than you had remembered. I would have liked to have put my life on pause so I could have replayed it over and over again, I'm seriously hoping it wasn't all a dream . . . and that tonight is equally as fantastic. Going to have a nap now cause I'm old and don't do 3:00 am well - espescially not when I have to do it a few nights in a row.

The Big Smoke

Gotta love Toronto in the summer!!!



This week:
Bell Orchestre
Phoenix
Apostle of Hustle (x3)
Happiness Project
Years
Jason Collett (x2)
The Most Serene Republic
Still Life Still
Zeus
Timber Timbre
BSS

Plus rumoured Feist

And, I'm only working half days this week so I will actually get to sleep in there somewhere!

Anybody know who the 'mystery artists' at Bovine are on Friday night or if By Divine Right is seriously playing Saturday night?

I Wish . . .

I have been listening to Stevie all day at work and have decided that I want a clavinet. I think next to his unparallelled vocal ability and his obvious talent at pretty much every instrument, the clavinet is the source of all his magical powers . . . man he's freakin awesome!

The Shit

There are some artists that just remind you why music exists . . . this week I'm all about the Ray LaMontagne. So simple, yet so beautiful.