2008 Year in Review

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The Disposability of Rock n' Roll

Is anyone else concerned by how quickly we consume and discard new music these days? I was at a Plants and Animals show a few weeks ago, and during the show I was lamenting the fact that my interest in the band had already peaked after only two weeks of hearing that they even existed. The system that we have allows us to access complete discographies of bands within minutes of hearing about them. We listen to the music fervently when it's still new and fresh. When the band comes to town, we go see them live, buy a t-shirt, go home and forget about it. The next day, we find a new band.

When I was a young lad, growing up in the wilds of the Canadian National Capital region, a rock band was not something that one simply snatched up, used up and threw away. It was something that was savored, cherished, and studied. I think I spent 7 years of my adolescence listening to Pearl Jam before I got to see them live. Now, I know much has changed in the world of music distribution, and the days of going to a record store to buy your music are a thing of the past. All I'm saying is that the music world, like many things in our modern society, seems to be moving too fast.

So my question is this: Has music simply become another consumer good, mass produced, distributed, consumed and then disposed? I would like to think not, but as I stood watching Plants and Animals, I felt a great sadness in the way I perceived the indie rock scene at the moment: An assembly line of new bands, fueled by internet hype machines and buzz blogs. It's like no one's taking time to sit back and really absorb the music, we are simply buying, consuming and disposing it, like your morning Orange Mochafrappacino from Starbucks.

Now, I have a friend, let's call him B. Isopp... (actually that's much too obvious, let's call him Bernty I.) He sees this issue in a much more positive light. He looks at the music industry in its current form as an efficient machine, cranking out constant entertainment for the masses. Thanks to iTunes and Amie Street and a plethora of other legal music download sites, anyone anywhere can access music once reserved for those who live in cities. Which, in itself, is truly a great thing.

We live in a society constantly bombarded with media, and I fear that the human of the future will resemble the fat idiot depicted in that delightful movie Wall-E. Maybe I'm just sick of letting the internet tell me what music to listen to. The problem is that it is always right! Maybe that's what will distinguish the age of the internet. It will be known as the death of Subjectivism. . .or maybe the dawn of neo-Subjectivism?. . . Ok, I'll stop now.

Some final questions for you to ponder:

Is consuming a large amount of media a good thing?
Is appreciating art a self-serving distraction or does it have intrinsic value?

Pitchfork Music Festival

This last weekend I was fortunate enough to go to Chicago to attend the Pitchfork Music Festival. The festival has been going on for several years now, and features performances by many of the elite indie bands of the day, handpicked by Pitchfork Media staff. I thought I'd give you a rundown of the concerts I was able to see, and my thoughts on the festival.

Day 1
The first night of the festival was put on in collaboration with All Tomorrow's Parties, which is a UK based company that puts on concerts around the world. The highlight of the night was Public Enemy, reunited to perform their seminal album "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" in its entirety. What we witnessed was what Britt Daniel would later describe as "insane," which I couldn't agree with more.

The performance did not get off to a good start. There were two major issues. Firstly, Chuck D's mic was not working properly; his voice was all muddled and quiet. Secondly, Flavor Flav was not present. As you can imagine, this significantly took away from the first song they performed, Bring the Noise. The mic was replaced and Flavor Flav found his way to the stage, and they continued the set. Things first got awkward when, between songs, Chuch D berates Flavor Flav for "leavin' me hangin'" on Bring the Noise. Flavor Flav pleads with Chuck that he was backstage and that they shouldn't have started the set without him. Neither Chuck nor Flav seem like they're too fond of one another.

The next incident made things worse. In between songs, Flavor Flav takes a minute to thank the audience for making him the number one reality show on TV. Why he felt compelled to bring up his reality TV career at what was supposed to be a night honouring one of the greatest rap albums ever made is beyond me, but he crossed that line, and the Pitchfork crowd called him on it with resounding Boos. Flavor Flav did not take it well. I thing his response was something like this:

"You think you can boo me? Fuck You! You think you can fucking boo Flavor Flav? You should be booing your fucking spouse!"

Ugh.

The performance continued, interrupted only by Flavor Flav calling out one of his bandmates for lip-syncing and then clearly lip-syncing himself, among other cringe-inducing antics, like Chuck D leaving the stage, clearly disgusted with Flav's behaviour. Despite all this, there were some high points, when Public Enemy broke into Louder Than a Bomb, people actually starting to rock out, which was surprising.

The whole show seemed a surreal: A rap group that reached their artistic peak nearly twenty years ago performing racially charged songs in front of a bunch of white upper middle-class twenty-somethings who really know nothing of the struggles on which the songs are based seemed wrong. I know I shouldn't assume that a white upper middle-class twenty-something can't appreciate the message of the songs, all I'm saying is that it was a weird vibe, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt that way. I'll stand by my preconceived notion that it's never a good idea to see artists performing past their prime.

Day 2
Saturday was jam-packed with great performances, so many in fact that it was almost impossible to take in everything you wanted to. The first act I saw was Fleet Foxes, which is a great new band from Seattle that plays a unique brand of harmonious folk-pop that combines early Simon & Garfunkle or Beach Boys vocal harmonies with backwoods instrumentation. The songs are melancholy and catchy crafted with pop sensibility. I really enjoyed their performance. They went on right when I got there, and I'm proud to say I didn't even try to grab a beer before they went on, just in case I got stuck in line and missed a song.

The next performance of note was Vampire Weekend, which is a band we all remember from last fall when they became the biggest band in North America overnight thanks to internet hype. I enjoyed their songs, but wasn't blown away. They did play a few new songs which sounded pretty good.
The next band we watched was definitely one of the highlights of the festival, and that was The Hold Steady. They went on at 7 in the evening, which meant the sun was still up but the crowd had been at the festival sufficiently long enough to be in "party mode". If you've ever heard the Hold Steady, you know that they have a knack for writing party anthems, and the fist pumps were flying. They played a lot of older stuff, which I don't know as well as the new album, but the set was still amazing. At one point the lead singer Craig Finn said to the crowd "I hope you guys are having as much fun as we are!" which sort of summed up their performance.

The final performance of the day was Animal Collective, one of the most original bands out there and also one of the best. Their music was accompanied by a trippy light show which was quite impressive. The only problem with the set is that they had to follow The Hold Steady, after which I was understandably a bit burnt-out. Music festivals are hard work.

After the show we went to a festival after-party at Bottom Lounge on West Lake Street to catch Jay Reatard perform. Their set was good, however, after partying all day it's hard to rally for yet another concert.
Day 3

I'm not going to lie, Sunday morning was a painful one. Despite the collective pleas of our festival-weathered bodies, we headed back to Union Park on the El train, determined to keep having a great time. King Khan and the Shrines, a band which has been receiving a lot of media attention as of late, went on shortly after we arrived. They've got a sort of retro funk/soul sound which is complimented with an amazing/manic stage presence. Although the set sounded great, it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and I was not quite ready to rock out yet.

The highlight of the afternoon was Brit-rockers Spiritualized. I've been listening to the new album Songs in A&E quite a lot lately and they even opened with my favourite song You Lie You Cheat. The set seemed almost medicinal, wiping away the crowds hangovers with soothing melodies and soundscapes.
As the day was ending, I was finally feeling normal again and ready to rock out to the grand finale: Spoon. If you haven't heard Spoon's album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga from last summer then you're in for a treat. I had posted up near the front of the stage during Dinosaur Jr.'s set so I was right in the mix. They played alot of older stuff but the new songs they played were accompanied by a full horn section which sounded amazing. A fitting end to an epic festival.

All in all, the festival was pretty fun. I had never been to Chicago before, and it's definitely one of the most interesting cities in North America. It was fascinating learning about the architecture and planning of the city, other cities could learn a lot from the approach they've taken to urban design. As for the festival itself, it was fun being in the hotbed of the indie music scene. Though much of the time I felt like I wasn't cool enough to be there (which was definitely true), I was able to pick up a few of the newest trends that are making waves in the hipster scene:

1. Bike hats: you remember those little hats that competitive cyclists wear? Those are cool now. Pop up the brim for added irony.

2. Cut-offs: Obviously prompted by the trend-setting ways of Tobias Fuenke, cut-offs are back, and not just jean cut-offs, any old pants can be turned into cool shorts. One favourite was cut-off skinny jeans, if you're going for that painted-on look.

3. Sparks Energy Drink: I don't know if people actually liked this stuff or it was just clever marketing. This stuff is a 6% alcohol caffeinated drink that looked like nuclear waste and tasted worse. It's going be huge.

4. Being Rich: Apparently being rich is cool again. Having vast amounts of disposable income to spend on clothes, records, concerts tickets, drinks and sushi from the Whole Foods tent seems to be quite popular again. So, if you were concerned that being rich was going out of fashion, rest assured that its back. Don't be afraid to dip into that trust fund.

Well, I think that's it for now. If you have the chance to go to Chicago for whatever reason I would highly recommend it. And if you're going to a festival soon, remember to stay hydrated, eat vegetables and go easy on the Sparks.

To Blog or Not to Blog

It's a crazy age we live in. The rise of the age of the internet has opened up many doors for humankind. A wealth of information that was previously unavailable to the vast majority is now just a click away. Do you ever have a question, and, instead of actually asking another person you simply google it? I know I do.

Just the other day me and my friends were wondering if you typed in "How do I get away with employing illegal immigrants?" to google would you get a good answer? The fact that we were even contemplating such a ludicrous internet search shows how powerful and ubiquitous it has truly become. Because for the most part, the internet comes through. Whether you're stalking people you hardly know on Facebook or looking for the nearest Wendy's restaurant, the internet has all the answers.

Apart from being the great resource that it is, the internet has also sparked the phenomenon of web-logging, or "blogging" as it colloquially known. The idea of a blog is simple. It's basically an online diary where any idiot with an internet connection can write down whatever they want on their blog and any other idiot can read it. Now I know what you're thinking. You think that I'm about to knock the whole concept of blogging and go into a whole self-deprecating spiel about how blogging is essentially literary diarrhea that serves no other purpose than distracting under-worked office workers with attention deficit disorder. But I'm not going to do that. For one, because I already did, in an earlier blog entry. But more importantly, I'm not going to knock blogging because I think its an important medium with which to document the evolution of human thought, no matter how stupid that thought may be.

Just think, while anthropologists of today studying our ancient relatives base their life's work on mere fossils and cave paintings, the anthropologists of the future will be able to pore over gigabytes of text, video, music and other assorted media created by the humans of the digital age.

Blogs, Message boards, YouTube videos, Word Documents, MP3's, and JPEGS. The list goes on. . . We're constantly creating artifacts of our existence and not even realizing it. What we are doing now is documenting the human experience.

And that's important. If only to let future generations know how completely and utterly moronic we all were. So that's that. GO START A BLOG! The future of epistemology could very well rest on your shoulders. . .

Canadian Music Week

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to go see Deerhoof at the Phoenix, a band which I have listened to for a number of years but had never seen live. The concert was part of the Eye Weekly sponsored "Canadian Music Week", where a number of concerts are staged throughout the week around the great city of Toronto.

When I arrived at the Phoenix, which is a spacious venue on Sherbourne street, Sebastien Granger and the Montagnes were preparing to go on. Sebastien Granger, for those of you who don't know, was the lead singer and drummer of the acclaimed pop thrash metal(?) band Death From Above 1979. Since the band broke up a couple of years ago, we haven't heard much from Sebastien, whereas his counterpart Jesse Keeler went on to form the successful electro-dance-punk MSTRKRFT (a name inspired by Canadian Tire's popular brand of well-made, yet affordable, power tools.) Sebastien's new band seems to have all the right building blocks of a successful new indie band (fashionable haircuts, moustaches, painted-on white jeans, and indie cred. . . ) but their songs were lacking that edge and originality that made a band like MSTRKRFT so popular. However, this band was miles above the following act, which I'm going to brazenly describe as THE WORST SET I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Ladies and Gentlemen,I give you No Age. The band No Age consists simply of a drummer/singer and a guitarist. The drummer can drum, I'll give you that, but his singing was terrible. The guitarist may be able to play guitar, but you can't tell because everything he plays is awash in distortion and prerecorded "ambiance". Any semblance of melody or chord structure was indiscernible and the instrumentation grating and convoluted. I could actually feel my ears being damaged from listening to this crap. Now, I know what you're saying: Man, this old guy doesn't know what he's talking about. . that shit was off the hook! I may be getting long in the tooth but I still appreciate a wide variety of music, and I'm not adverse to noise art either (music's bastardized cousin). But No Age was neither of these things. It was a perfect example of what happens when P4K hypes up a band that isn't actually talented. It seems as though people were enjoying this music because they were supposed to enjoy it, which I find shameful and tragic. By the end of the set I was so furious with No Age, and the destruction they were doing to my already-mangled ear drums, I threw my plastic beer cup towards the stage. (my apologies to the hipster I smoked in the back of the head.) I immediately regretted my redneck-esque behaviour, but I just couldn't take it anymore. If I'm going to ruin my hearing, I would like it to come from listening to music I actually enjoy.

Deerhoof got to the stage and put on a great show. They had a huge spinning propeller on stage that was lit up with LCD's and flashed in time with the music. It was very cool. Anyway. . .moral of the story: Sebastien Granger=nothing to scream about. No Age=worst band ever. Deerhoof=always entertaining.

Ian Curtis Smashed My Apartment

Well, last night was Friday, so, as per usual, I went out with my asshole friends and got shitty drunk to celebrate the end of the work week. I had a pretty productive week; I worked alot, contemplated the nature of human existence, and even got to play around with the new loop pedal I got. But all that is meaningless now. Because Ian Curtis smashed my apartment.

It was around 3:30 in the morning. I was about to go to bed when my alcoholic roommate knocked violently on my bedroom door. "Yo," he said. "Drink this." I looked down and he was holding a freshly opened beer in his hand. "Umm," I stammered. "I was going to go to bed. . . don't know if I need another pint at this stage of my life. . ." I already knew I was going to give in. "Yes," he said. "You do."

I caved, grabbed the beer and headed into the living room, where my other two roomates were hanging out. Music was blaring and it was apparent that a massive game of foosball was about to go down.

The game went well, some good passes, some good chirps, everything seemed quite typical. That was before the Joy Division came on. Thats when things got stupid.

I know that music can evoke powerful emotions, but I've never seen anything like this. The song "Transmission" put everyone into a frenzy. Within two minutes, the apartment had been destroyed. The couch and the armchairs got flipped, bicycles were sent flying across the room. Paintings on the wall were ripped down and beer was strewn everywhere. It was a manic episode that seemed surreal. I couldn't believe what was happening. Why were we destroying our own apartment? What would compel anyone to do such a thing? But then I remembered we were listening to Joy Division and I decided that it was all Ian Curtis' fault.

I don't know why we did what we did. I don't know what our problem is. . .Are we nuts? Are we idiots? Are we assholes? Maybe a combination of the three. Regardless, we should be evicted. Moral of the Story: NO JOY DIVISION AFTER MIDNIGHT.

Year in Review 2007

As I'm sure you've all noticed, this week all the hip blogs have been posting their Year in Review articles so we here at Get Distracted decided to compile a list of 'Albums of the Year'. Here we go. . .

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
This album was technically released in 2006, but I was off on a spiritual journey in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia at the start of the year so my music was a bit behind the times. This album was one of the first times I consciously forced myself to listen to the lyrics of the songs. Alot of times I listen to music simply for the melodies and instrumentation. (Probably why I'm such a terrible lyricist) Each song on this album tells a neat little short story with an old-timey theme. Murderous butchers who kill misbehaving children and ghosts of American Civil War soldiers are among the subjects of the songs on the Crane Wife. Interesting lyrics + great melodies = good listen. Listen to O Valencia.

The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
No one knew what to expect of the sophomore effort from the indie media darlings The Arcade Fire. Many drew similarities between this album and the music of the legendary Bruce Springsteen. The influence is easy to hear on a song like 'Keep the Car Running.' The hurried vocals and driving beat sounds like Springsteen in a post-apocalyptic world. Obviously the Boss heard the influence as well; in the fall he invited Win and Regine on stage to perform 'Keep the Car Running' with him at his concert in Ottawa. Check it out here.

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
If you asked me a year ago what I thought of Muse, the only thing I would be able to say is "I think they're really big in Quebec." The statement would be true, but until this year, I had never given Muse a chance. All I knew about them was there Thom Yorke-ish vocals and their popularity with our French counterparts. On my friends advice, I downloaded their new album and their previous album Absolution. The music has a Radiohead-type feel to it, but the instrumentation showcases a technical proficiency that would make any prog aficionado proud. Their show at Arrow Hall was a multimedia extravaganza, and at the end of the show I found myself in a trance, as if I just received an alien transmission into my brain. And I wasn't even that boozed up. Check out the video for Invincible

Menomena - Friend and Foe
A pretentious band name and a unique, non-offensive sound gave these up-and-comers a leg up in the over-saturated world of indie music this year. I still don't know how the band name should be pronounced. I always thought it should be pronounced like that song from The Muppets, but I still remember that jerk at Zaphods who pronounced it "Mee-No Mee-Nah" . What an ass. Menomena - Muscle n' Flo

The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
I'm pretty sure The Thermals use the same four chords throughout this entire album, but, like a trendy hybrid car, they do more with less. If you think you might like punk music but you're sort of scared to try it out, The Thermals are a good way to ease you into it. Their unique brand of post-pop-punk-neo-grunge is perfected on this album. I like listening to this album while playing foosball or doing something active. It will get you riled. The Thermals - Here's Your Future

Broken Social Scene presents Kevin Drew - Spirit If. . .
K. Drew and his gang return to form on this album. The result is a more intimate record much like the masterful You Forgot It In People. It's not technically a BSS record, but it might as well be. In the New Year, the next album in the series 'BSS presents Brendan Canning' is set to be released. I wait for this album with trepidation. Hopefully it's better than his inane stage banter. . . . K.Drew - Lucky Ones

Well that's all I got for now. The first time I wrote my year in review the entire entry was deleted right before I was about to post, so what you're reading is actually the 'second draft' of my year in review. You'll have to trust me that it was much more interesting, witty, and generally well-written the first time through. Anyway, I'll leave you with a few Bests and Worsts of the year. Enjoy.

Best Show of the Year: Interpol, New Capital Music Hall, Ottawa, ON. Best concert of my life.

Most Drunken Concert of the Year: Kanye West, Bluesfest, Ottawa, ON. Double-fisting Carling lagers pre-show and VIP tickets (with private beer tent) both contributed to near blackout sloppiness. I got a lot of great pictures though.

Best Venue: Lee's Palace, Toronto, ON: Whether seeing Built to Spill or Fat Robot, this venue is legendary. Located in the heart of the annex, after-show shwarmas are essential.

Worst Venue: Arrow Hall, Milton (?), ON. Toronto's a great city and all, but the GTA is a terrible sprawling suburban wasteland. The only way to get out to this venue is to drive or be driven. This makes the concert experience somewhat of a headache and severely detracts from its overall enjoyment. When I went to see Muse I missed the opening band (Cold War Kids) because they went on at 6:30. Well done, Arrow Hall. Word of advice: When in Toronto, never leave the metropolitan area. Its a dark and desolate place.

Freakiest Concert: Justice at Circa, Toronto, ON. Toronto's hipster freaks came out in full force from under their hot plates, making for an unforgettable show.

Best Guest Appearance: Hayden at The National, The Phoenix, Toronto, ON: For The National's encore, Hayden came up on stage and performed a great rendition of Dynamite Walls. Hayden is a Canadian folk-grunge legend, and seeing him onstage with a contemporary indie band like The National made me have some sort of weird religious awakening, like I realized that all music was connected or something. Whatever happened, it was sick. Listen to the song Dynamite Walls and it might make sense.

Best Record Store: Sonic Boom, Bloor & Bathurst, Toronto, ON. Contemporary vinyl aplenty and an endless supply of the most recent Vice magazine make this store a great destination.

Most Pretentious Record Store: Vertigo, Rideau St., Ottawa, ON
[after inquiring whether they had the new Gorillaz D-Sides album] "The Gorillaz?"

Best TV Documentary of the Year: Planet Earth: A treasure trove of fascinating footage of unique animal behaviour and natural landscapes. As Diego would say, "Twenty-somethings getting together and watching Planet Earth is the trendy thing to do these days."

Best TV Comedy Show: Kenny vs. Spenny. Watch full episodes here.

Best Movie of the Year: Control. This biography of Joy Division's Ian Curtis is amazing. I also recommend watching 24 Hour Party People if you're into the whole Manchester post-punk thing.

Worst Movie of the Year: Transformers. You will be upset that all the humans are not destroyed at the end of this movie. In math terms, this movie would be described as 'the lowest common denominator'

Ok that's it. All in all its been a good year. Friends became enemies, enemies became friends, lessons were learned and forgotten. Money was earned and squandered. Hearing was damaged. Such is the ebb and flow of life. We have 2008 to look forward to. The Constantines are hard at work on a new album and the Hollywood writer's strike is coming to an end. What more can you ask for?.. . I guess if we have the time we could all pitch in and maybe try to stop destroying the planet. . .or is that too much to ask? Is it still cool to be environmentally conscious? Or has it all been an elaborate marketing ploy? hmm. . . Anyways have a good New Year everyone. Don't drink too much champagne and keep blogging!