Um, we're sorry?

So this is my open letter of apology to the entire world for the embarrassment of a Closing Ceremonies that my lovely country subjected the rest of you to. I am choosing to believe that what actually happened was that the show ended with Neil Young and it was at that very point that I fell asleep and had what can only be described as THE WORST NIGHTMARE OF MY LIFE.
Canada has the most diverse and talented pool of musical talent of any nation in the entire world (OK, I'm biased, but it also happens to be fuckin true) - why VANOC decided that we should be represented by Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Hedley and Simple Plan is mind boggling. As I sat there watching the horrendous train wreck that was happening before my eyes, I kept repeating to myself "K-os will save us, K-os will save us" to keep from having to gouge my eyes out. Then, after the pile of trash that was our great 'goodbye' to the world and 'thank you for all your hard work and perseverance' to our own athletes, K-os also proceeded to suck. As the one artist who fought VANOC tooth and nail to go live and not pretape, he was nothing short of pitiful (and I love K-os, so it hurts me to say that).
Knowing all of the great Canadian talent that was in Vancouver over the past couple of weeks (BSS, Feist, Jully Black, GBS, Stars, Justin Nozuka, BNL, Bedouin Soundclash, Corb Lund, Ron Sexmith, Hey Rosetta, The Arkells, Sam Roberts, Kardi, The Constantines, Jason Collett, Gonzales, Alexisonfire, Serena Ryder, Dallas Green, K'Naan, Bell Orchestre, Joel Plaskett, Hawksley Workman, Matt Mays, Jim Cuddy . . . you get the idea) I am ashamed and embarrassed that someone thought Nickelback was the right decision. Any one of the above listed choices would have been better than all the shit that they chose put together. The notable exceptions were of course, Neil Young and Michael Buble.
The other issue surrounding the Ceremonies seems to be that many Canadians were offended by the comedic take on The Maple Leaf Forever. I thought it was one of the very few redeeming moments of the evening, I took the giant beaver and Mounties, flying Moose and Lumberjacks in the way they were intended - with a truly Canadian sense of irony. Nickelback does far more to tarnish our image as a country just by waking up in the morning than all of the giant beavers in the world combined.
After all the work and training that went in to what our Olympians (and those from around the world) did over the past 2 weeks and after all the moments they gave us to be proud, my pride was shot down the second the first Nickelback pyro went off.
I am dreadfully sorry if anyone else had the same nightmare as I did last night and hope that with time, our ears will stop bleeding and our retina will stop burning. Maybe if we wish really hard and click our heels together 3 times it will be erased from our collective memories?
To my fellow Canadians, just think - we never have to hear that shitty "I believe" song again!

Forgiveness indeed

Now that I have had some time to sit with the studio production version of World Sick - some early reflections. It should be noted that live versions I have been witness to recently do not do the album version justice - falling exceedingly in love.

-masterful use of dynamics
-beautifully done almost conversational interplay back and forth between guitars
-opening percussion build up foreshadows greatness to come - Justin has stepped up his game significantly here, and he was already pretty damn fucking awesome
-reminiscent of Feel Good Lost (and that is an immensely great thing)
-simply beautiful bass line
-phenomenal textures in the Joy Division-esque instrumental bridge
-glad to hear Johnny in the male 'chorus' vocals

I could go on for hours, so I will leave you with this parting thought. Conclusion: the hiatus was a long 4.5 years (thank goodness for solo projects!) but with art like this, how can we begrudge them whatever it took to get them to a place where something this wonderful is possible?

World Sick

Oh Owen . . .

Best song title of all time, also a wicked song.

Oh Heartland, Up Yours!

They're back . . . and they've got company!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nuf said!!!!

Adios 09!

What a great year to be a Canadian music fan! Here is my best of 2009 list:

1 Years: Years
2 DMST: Do Make Say Think
3 Apostle of Hustle: Eats Darkness
4 Metric: Fantasies
5 The Happiness Project: The Happiness Project
6 Bahamas: Pink Strat
7 Gentleman Reg: Jet Black
8 Tegan and Sara: Sainthood
9 Timber Timbre: Timber Timbre
10 Amy Millan: Masters of the Burial

The lack of international artists is not intentional - this is my honest assessment of the year that was. And I have rethought my whole “I’m a Torontonian who doesn’t LOVE Toronto” sentiment – if great art is not a good enough reason to be proud of and in love with Toronto I don’t know what is.

Best of 09

The Shit

Everyone should know this chic. Listen and be jealous (I certainly am).









By the way - her name is Tal Wilkenfeld and she is 23 years old and did not start playing until she was 16. Like I said - jealous. . . life ain't fair man.

Borq borq borq

So when I was growing up, kids TV was AWESOME (even though at times politically incorrect and wildly inappropriate for kids). I am longing for a time when life was simpler and this was my solution . . . After spending yesterday evening watching classic Muppet Show clips of the Swedish Chef, at 11:45 pm as I was singing along with the 'borq borq borq' part of his theme song, I decided that I was cut off and should call it a night.










Saved the best for last: