So, whats up with the weather in Alberta lately? Amirite?
Speaking of freaks, check out Weird Music Canada. Its better than Pitchfork, but then again so is everything. Seriously though, Canadian music blog that stays true to its roots and to its name. Worth an RSS add.
Speaking of doing blow off illegal sex trade workers, next radio program is TONIGHT (ohmygawd) 7pm-8pmMST on 88.5fm in the Edmonton area or worldwide here.
Like all garage bands do, Endangered Ape are calling it quits.
We have three shows left – July 30 at The Hydeaway in Edmonton / July 31 at Broken City (NOBUNNY!), and then a going-away extravaganza on August 15 at Henotic featuring old friends and new friends, as well as The Famines, Sharp Ends (and surprise guests?). Try to make it pals…
Who knows what the future has in store though right?
These folks have done a lot in the last year and a half to get the Lethbridge music scene on the map and to encourage new and local bands to get out there and play bigger, badder scenes.
Plus, E Ape is just straight up rad music.
Go to thier last few shows, grab some limited edition merch and buy thier music. You will regret your life if you don’t.
This years Sled Island line up, late on the draw, yes. However, also included in the post below is some great pre-post-in-tandem Seld Island festivites. So, stop complaining ok?
Official Sled Island Schedule
(schedules linked, below are my top picks, which are just ’cause I’m stoked to see these).
*Summerlad#, Malajube, Biz Markie#, M5, Holy Fuck @Olympic Plaza – 3pm-8pm; NARWAUR VIDEO VAULT (ft. New Danger Kids^, Hot Panda+, and The Evaporators!!) 8pm – midnight; The Breeders @Olympic Plaza – 9:45pm; King Khan and BBQ @Dickens- midnight; HEALTH @Lord Nelson – 1am
*Find a breakfast house party. Just walk around Kensington for a while with a flask and a pack of ciggies, it will come to you.
Non-Official Sled Island parties (which most have past and now I’m lacking in content).
Mammoth Cave Productions presents: Sled Island South!!!
Saturday June 20th, 2009
The New Danger Kids, Endangered Ape, Myelin Sheaths, Sleepy Head, Square Waves, The Moby Dicks, Mt. Royal, Mount Analog, Sleepy Heads.
@Henontic – 8pm. $12.00 at the door
“All ticket-buyers will be entered to win two passes to the Sled Island Festival being held between June 24 and June 27.”
Beatroute presents: A Sled Island Hangover Breakfast
@Local 510 – 10am
“Come celebrate Sled Island 09 BeatRoute style! Enjoy a free breakfast, cheap drinks specials, and some kick-ass live music courtesy of some festival performers: Githead (featuring Colin Newman of Wire); Hot Panda (Mint Records); No Gold (Rad-couver); Hunter Gatherer (local dudes)
Ever have those days when nothing really goes wrong, but it seems that nothing really good is happening either? A greyish-white could of uncertainty just hangs there, above everything you do and happens to you during the day.
That has been this past week for this lady.
Which is why I am hypothetically pumped to hear that NEIL YOUNG is playing here in Lethbridge, April 25th but cannot seem to work up the actual level of excitement this announcement deserves. Either way, for real folks, Neil Young, in Lethbridge. Do a couple handsprings for me would ya? The urge to see him live has only intensified for me after watching Rust Never Sleeps, so unlike Fleetwood Mac (which is minus Christine McVie and therefore minus this girl, plus the ticket price is a little steep…like mt. Everest steep) I will be shelling out some bucks to see this. An unexpected announcement which has some people wondering why. My hypothesis is that Bobby D. told Young how sweet this audience is sometime while he was lurking outside his supposed residence.
Other news:
CKXU is airing CKUT’s annual Homelessness Marathon. 16 hours of live broadcasting from streets across Canada to bring attention to a true nation crisis. For more information on the broadcast, click here, for information on CKXU’s airing of the broadcast and to hear the boardcast stream live from your very own personal computer, click HERE.
Lastly, a prep for Sasquatch, Black Moth Super Rainbow. Saw these guys open for The Flaming Lips September 2007 and they were pretty killer. A must see on my list. The synth….The synth!
As seen on Music for Ants (all cred goes to this site…) this music blog is a wicked feat in music sharing and design. A different theme for every song, hold your interest longer than Vice’s do and don’t lists.
Sasquatch announced their 2009 line-up today (thanks to all you twit’s who kept me in the loop….) and it is lookin’ mighty fine.
Personal high lites include Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, Of Montreal, Explosions in the Sky, M83, The Walkmen, Monotonix, The Pica Beats, Demetri Martin and Tim and Eric. Seriously, this is pretty fly. I have yet to see 60% of this list live…
Sasquatch always provides a pretty sweet ass time and everyone who has gone has had nothing but very good things to say.
The Gorge is amazing, the music is on-going and fantastic and because it’s in May it doesn’t usually get “unbearably-Coachella-I’m-gonna-die-but-I-won’t-buy-a-3-dollar-bottle-of-water” hot. Which is good news bears. That being said, Coachella’s line up is looking good too. Huge as usual which means there are a lot of artists to check out, but a little desperate. Kinda like that second cousin who seeks you out at family gathering’s, sporting American Appearl tights, a “vintage looking” tee, an eyebrow peircing and talks about that great indie band “Death Cab for Cutie” they just discovered “ON VINYL”.
8. Jenny Lewis – Trying My Best to Love You – Acid Tongues
9. James Yorkston – Tortoise Regrets Hare – When the Haar Goes In
10. *Rah Rah – Tentacles – Going Steady
11. *The World Provider – Hard Feelings – Hard Feelings
12. *The Russian Futurists – The First Five Times – Do You Trust Your Friends?
13. *The Coast – All Farewells – The Coast
14. *Brian Borcherdt – While I Was Asleep – Coyotes
15. Okkervil River – Last Love Song for Now – Black Sheep Bpy Appendix
16. Los Campesinos – You’ll Need Those Fingers For Crossing – We are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
17. Sufjan Stevens – Dear Mr. Supercomputer – The Avalanche
18. Jonas Reinhart – Worm Punching the Struggling Fires – Jonas Rienhart
19. *The Ostrich – Tunafish Disaster Film – Alberta Boom! Mixtape
20. *The Wicked Awesomes – Somewhere in Noweheresville – Alberta Boom! Mixtape
21. *Endangered Ape – Last Shitmas
Pick of the Week: Tie between Endangered Ape’s (and company…) Holiday track “Last Shitmas” (recorded with many very very good friends, a pint of grown-up egg nog and around a hand held voice recorder with real live sleigh bells. E Ape, you are holiday spirit personified. xo) and Rah Rah’s “Tentacles” (which is a song I cannot get sick of, no matter how hard I try.)
Also, check out CBC Radio 3’s music news. A good source for a smattering of interesting things. That is, if you haven’t already heard about it on Twitter.
Ah, the long used expression of care, love, friendship, music snobbery: a mix tape.
Once an actual tape, a painstakingly long process of taping songs from radio or LP’s, a laborious process of cutting at the right moment, picking the right songs in the right order the FIRST time and perfecting the timing.
Evolution: itunes, a mix tape became as easy as one, two, three. A true music aficionado with a bevy of hard to find mp3’s at their finger tips could punch out a collection meant to evoke any feeling in no time. BUT there are still some pesky limitations. Songs that you owned on your itunes only, the pain/wait of torrenting and listening to ensure that Jay Reatard single is not actually a sneaky Celine Dion in disguise, a 180 minute time limit and of course the physical presence of the CD. A case to be decorated and a permanent fixture of your devotion.
Now, the latest in mix tape technology makes a mix tape as easy as entering a wikipedia article. Mixwit.com gives you the ease and convenience of built in torrent-like options ( works by accessing blogs and other mp3 downlodable site. It works ok but doesn’t hold a candle to the mp3’s you can access from your own ingenuity and has little in the way of the really obscure but the classics are all there…), a design feature to “personalize” your mix tape and the best part of all…a constant edit process to allow you to change your track listing, the order, the title, pretty much everything.
A great program for us music junkies who’s itunes cannot keep up with our desires but let there be a strict warning within this post:
Boys and girls, think twice before this becomes your way of affection expression. Its a slippery slope right up there with e-cards and facebook gifts. They are too easy to mean too much but for convenience sake and personal satisfaction, this site along with Last fm and others (notably the now defunct muxtape – which I thank girloclock for pointing out to me, and upon closer inspection the introspective site history is very telling of the nature of mainstream music industry and the precarious nature of all music blogs, sharing sites and even the simplest mp3 download links ) will do much to make those long work days and essay writing sessions more enjoyable.
So, whats up with the weather in Alberta lately? Amirite?