2009 Year in Review

Well, it's New Year's Eve 2009. A time to reflect on the year passed, a time to anticipate the year ahead, but most importantly a time for Get Distracted's Year in Review. The Year in Review post started as a way to sum up a year's worth of blog posts in one cohesive entry, but it seems that The Year in Review has become the only real post that I do each year so I apologize for that.

A lot of people have been coming up to me on the street and asking me if I was going to do a Decade in Review post as the Aughties (the 00's) are coming to a close. Many media outlets have been churning out 'Decade in Review' posts this month as if the Aughties have had a defining or disguinshing aesthetic or sound like decades of the past.

I feel like that in this modern world, pop culture, entertainment and music changes and evolves so quickly that it is impossible to classify the 00's in the same way we classified the 70's, 80's or 90's. With that in mind, I am going to stick with the year in review.

One of the first significant events of 2K9 was the inauguration of President Barack Obama which happened in late January. The Bush years were over and, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, America was ready for a fresh start and a new life.

Which brings us to the first category.

Best Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

The name of the album refers to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the title track Lisztomania is a reference to a film about the classical pianist and composer Frans Liszt. From these two references it is apparent that Phoenix definitely had classical music on their mind when they were writing this album. I like to think of this album as a classical suite, where each song is a variation on a theme. The chord structure remains very similar throughout the album, and I find every time I hear one of the songs on shuffle, I'm compelled to listen to the whole album.

Despite the album's complex production, they are still amazing live. I saw this band perform in Toronto (appropriately at the Phoenix Concert Hall) and they put on a great show. Even though it was Monday night people were rocking out.

Honorable Mentions: The Polaris Short List

This year the Polaris Short List showcased the breadth of musical talent that exists in contemporary Canadian music. Although Fucked Up took home the ultimate prize, I thought all of the nominees put out amazing albums. Here they are in case you missed one. The art shown is the original poster made for each Polaris nominee.

Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows

Fucked Up - Chemistry of Common Life

Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels

Hey Rosetta - Into Your Lungs
K'naan - Troubadour

Malajube -Labyrinthes

Metric - Fantasies

Joel Plaskett - Three

Chad Van Gaalen - The Soft Airplane

Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms

Best Concert of the Year: Animal Collective at the Sound Academy May 16, 2009

This show was unbelievable from start to finish. I had seen Animal Collective before at an outdoor festival, but I think music like this is best enjoyed in a club setting. They played a variety of new and old songs, some of which I had never heard before, but the whole vibe of the show was unreal. A lot of ambiance, pulsating rhythms and many a primal scream.

Best New Social Networking Thing:

I know last year I bashed Twitter because I was young and naive, but I have since learned the error of my ways. Although Twitter can be used for all the wrong reasons, I truly believe that it has revolutionized the way we browse the internet. I would go as far as to say that Twitter is the TV Guide of the Internet. Think about it.

In other news, there are a few new social networking things that are gaining some buzz that I thought I should mention.

Google Wave:

All hail our benevolent dicatator Google. I have come to realize that Google can do no wrong, therefore I embraced Google Wave even though I don't understand what it does. I think it's main strength is for group projects, where a group of people can track edits and modifications to a document or media file. Either that or it will help you organize your softball team.

Foursquare:

Ok, this thing might be completely frivolous but I'm not sure yet so I won't knock it just yet. The idea behind Foursquare is that is connects users with places around a city, in such a way that your city is 'mapped' with places that your friends frequent. When you are in a certain restaurant or bar you 'check in' and are connected with everyone else there. Sound completely ridiculous? It could very well be.

Saddest Media Fiascos

1. Balloon Boy

Balloon Boy was the first indication that the journalists and news professionals had lost control of the news. When the balloon boy story broke, the instantaneous hype was so overwhelming that no one thought to investigate if the information that created the hype was even true. The frenetic speculation was what made the story what it was. It was a media fiasco in its purest form.

2. Michael Jackson

While Michael Jackson's death was obviously tragic, it did help to put to rest much of the controversy that plagued his career. Now that he is gone we can remember him for what he should be remembered for: his music. The man was a genius.

3. Tiger Woods

As a society we love to build up on-top-of-the-world celebrities and pro athletes and then destroy them as soon as they act human. We all loved Tiger as he won championship after championship but as soon as he messed up and cheated on his wife we reveled in his misery with delight. America loves a good fall from grace.

Best Novelty Sites:

Although the internet can be blamed for a lot of terrible things in today's society, it is also a great source of user-generated hilarity. Here is list of some of the choice novelty sites that make sitting in front of a computer screen for 10 hours a day that much more enjoyable.

This Is Why You're Fat

I had to stop looking at this site at work because it would make me cry it's so good. I feel a strange kinship with the sites contributors - hopefully my gastronomic masterpiece Le Chasseure will one day grace its hallowed pages.

Texts from Last Night:

The 'lighter side' of drunken debauchery

Lamebook


You'll be glad that you 'got out' of facebook before these maniacs took over.

and the list goes on. . .

www.tweetingtoohard.com
www.peopleofwalmart.com
www.fmylife.com


Best Movie of the Year: Avatar

We knew that when the guy who made Terminator 2, Aliens and Titanic spends 10 years making a movie its going to be amazing. Avatar did not disappoint. Upon viewing the trailer the blue Na'vi creatures from the planet Pandora seem a bit cheesy looking but once you're seated in the massive IMAX theatre and outfitted in your 3D glasses any potential criticism is dispelled as you watch the Avatar unfold. The visual effects are unlike anything you have ever seen and the story is engaging and timely. It takes a minute to get used to the 3D effect but once you are properly acclimatized you wonder how 2D movies ever existed. After I saw this movie I boldly claimed it to be the BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Go see for yourself. I challenge you to be underwhelmed.

Honourable Mention: Funny People


This movie was hilarious and touching as we have come to expect from Judd Apatow, and although it dragged on a bit too long at the end, is definitely worth the watch. The soundtrack also features an awesome acoustic version of John Lennon's 'Watching the Wheels' Also, Aziz Ansari's Raaandy character was hilarious. check out his website http://www.laughyourdickoff.com/

Best TV Shows:

This fall was an amazing time to be a fan of great television. Between the HBO Sunday line-up and NBC's Thursday nights I don't know how things could get any better.

Sunday:

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7

I didn't think Larry David could top Season 6 but this season was just as hilarious/ridiculous/painful to watch. The highlight of this season was a full Seinfeld reunion show. I don't know if Curb is going on for another season, but I think Season 7 would be a perfect ending to a great series.

Bored To Death Season 1

A new HBO show starring Jason Schwartzman and Ted Danson which follows the misadventures of an aspiring writer/private detective in Brooklyn.

Mad Men Season 3

Best show on television? Probably. Although Season 3 gets even darker than Season 2 and there are a few questionable plot twists, Mad Men continues to be the best show on TV.

Thursday:

Parks and Recreation:

This new show was a bit derivative when it first started, it has come into its own midway through the season.

The Office:

The problem with American TV is that a series will never stop making new shows if its still profitable. Although the Office is still really good, I hope they call it quits before the show becomes complete nonsense. The past season it has shown signs of exhaustion.

30 Rock:

Consistently hilarious, maybe not as good last season but who am I to complain?

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

For those of you who haven't seen this show, please go out and buy seasons 1-4 on DVD and enjoy. The characters in It's Always Sunny are the first to embody the laziness, apathy and sense of entitlement that has come to define our generation. This show is amazing. They show it on FX in the States and a few months later on Showcase in Canada. Megavideo is always an option too.

That's it for this year. Check out our twitter page for more bloggable memes and embeddable links.

Fall Concert Guide

Well, it's fall in the big city, and as the temperatures drop and the days get shorter, a bunch of great bands are about to descend upon Toronto. Here are a few shows you should try to check out.

Darwin Deez October 30th @ El Mocambo

I heard about Darwin Deez in the spring, the songs 'Bad Day' and 'Radar Detector' are insanely addictive. Give them a listen:

http://www.myspace.com/darwindeez

Elliott Brood October 30th @ Opera House

Elliott Brood was recently nominated for the coveted Polaris Music Prize and I had the opportunity to see them live at the awards gala. They rocked out for their two-song performance, I'm sure a full set would be amazing. Unfortunately, this concert falls on the same day as Darwin Deez. I've got some serious thinking to do. . .

http://www.myspace.com/elliottbrood

Modeselektor November 4th @ Mod Club

Modeselektor is one half of the band Moderat which I have been getting into these last few weeks. They have a very cool sound: electronic, ambient, and hauntingly catchy. I think this show is going to be awesome.

http://www.myspace.com/moderat

Girls November 10th @ El Mocambo

The first time I heard Hellhole Ratrace I felt like I had heard it before. Not because it is unoriginal, but because the song is so perfect that its existence seems like the most natural thing in the world. The album is great, too.

It seems like with a lot of these new bands, the blogs hype them up to a point that no live show could ever live up to the audiences expectations. Girls seems different. I'm confident that this band will restore confidence in the internet hype machine.

http://www.myspace.com/girls

Rural Alberta Advantage November 20th

If you haven't heard Hometowns yet, I suggest you go to your local record store, pick up a copy and throw it on the old car stereo. It's damn good road trip music. 'Drain the Blood' and 'Edmonton' are two of my personal favourites.

http://www.myspace.com/theraa

Hey Rosetta! Dec 4-5 @ Horseshoe Tavern

Hey Rosetta! is another Polaris Prize finalist. These guys killed it at the awards gala, and I'm sure that they will bring the same intensity to the Horseshoe. Definitely worth some permanent hearing loss.

http://www.myspace.com/heyrosetta

That's it for now. Enjoy the shows.

Nomo - Live at El Mocambo

Last night I had the opportunity to see Nomo at the El Mocambo. I went into the show knowing very little about the band, I had heard a few songs on their myspace but that was it. I knew that they played afrobeat music and they were from Chicago and that was good enough. Since I've been getting into the habit of pretending that Thursday night is the start of the weekend, I jumped at the opportunity to go out and party.

I arrived at the El Mocambo around 10:30, and it was pretty empty. I had seen Malajube play there a couple of weeks ago to a packed house, so this was a bit of a change. I walked up to the bar and ordered a Labatt 50 only to find out that they were out.

"No Labbatt 50 at an afrobeat show at the El Mocambo? Am I in some bizarro world or something?" Not to worry, I ordered a Kieth's (not quite hipster-approved but delicious nonetheless) and moved up to the stage, where the band was getting ready.

If you are not familiar with Afrobeat music, I suggest you listen to some Nomo to get a better understanding of what it's all about. http://www.myspace.com/nomomusic Basically it involves a lot of brass instruments, cool beats, and improvised solos. I really think that it's a genre of music that is best experienced live.

The band consisted of two drummers, a saxophone/keyboardist, a trumpeter and a baritone saxophonist. Sometimes the second drummer would pick up a guitar, but as my friend Bryce remarked "You know, the guitar is cool and all, but what this song really needs is two drummers." The keyboardist would also play his homemade electric caramba sometimes.

All in all, the show was tight, eclectic, and made your feet move. Despite the crowd being a bit sparse, the people who were there were ready to have a good time. And for a small show there were a large number of Toronto music scene up-and-comers in attendance: Two members of the now defunct punk outfit Clock Strikes Music http://www.myspace.com/clockstrikes were in attendance as well as two members of the acclaimed Rexdale band Hot Soft Light, now going by the name The Big Aristotle.

For the band's encore, the band came down to floor level and started an impromptu jam amongst the crowd. This was one of the coolest concert experiences I have had in a while. The crowd began chanting and singing along with the music and it really felt like the audience and the band had connected on a whole other level. It was really great. Apparently, this was the last show of their tour, hopefully the next time they're in Toronto we'll get a good crew together and have a great night rocking out to Afrobeat.

The End of blogging?

Faithful readers. I know it has been a while since my last post. For this I apologize. I will try to get back to work and get some new posts up on the site soon.

In the meantime, check out the twitter version of the blog at twitter.com/getdistracted. It is almost as mindless as my regular blog posts, however it is limited to 140 characters so you only need to take it in small doses.

Best regards from everyone here at the Get Distracted head office.

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.