I Don't Even -

Disclaimer: I will, from now on, do my best to avoid self-pitying complaints about being behind and dropping the ball etc etc. Lame and lamer. Suck it up, buttercup.

Tons of pictures because I don't know how many Posts I've missed! Sleep depravation because I'm a still a crazy voluntary insomniac! Possibly more sleep depravation because I may be getting hired as a full-time baker at Bubby Rose's (which means I will be a REAL baker, not a "faker" as we call ourselves at CG)! Lots of joy and beer because the semester is completely done for the summer! (Note also lots of riding bikes and lounging in the sun)

Also lots of shows, I hope. Vancouver folks - I'm playing at the Kits Wired Monk this coming Wednesday (the 27th). Something about a fundraiser for European handball. I don't even know. So stoked for the city. June 24th and 25th: West My Friend is playing at Campbell Bay Fest again. Also! We have actual, physical, real-life CDs now! Seriously! If you want one, let me know and I can hook you up. Five bucks gets you a hand-made, stamped, glue-and-plastic-free CD sleeve with Homesick Blues, Angels In The City, The Crow, and Tic-a-Toc. We've been told by many sources that, apparently, we sound pretty swell, so it could probably be in your best interest to head over to our Myspace to give said tracks a listen.

That was extremely rambling and crammed and poorly formatted, but y'all can just deal with it. Lot of info and I'm tired from earlier-mentioned "sleep" patterns and hiking (*cough* scrambling *cough*) up Mt Doug this afternoon. Enjoy the enormous picture pile!



























And because they disabled embedding, here is the fantastic video of "Blackout" from Muse's Live At Wembley DVD. Continue enjoying!

"Blackout, Live At Wembley Stadium"

Sunday Post

Aw man. Did I call it or did I call it.

*facepalm*

I am referring, of course, to failing miserably at blog updating. On the plus side, I'm actually rather proud of the fact that it took almost an entire year before I started to lag, so I guess go me.

For all y'all in Victoria, how about that rainbow this morning? If you missed it, I'm pretty sorry for you. It was the best rainbow I've ever seen (it made up for the awful rain and wind I put up with riding back from church, thank god). For all y'all not in Victoria, I'm jealous of the snow you got last week. We got about an inch Monday or Tuesday night, and naturally it was all gone and turned to rain by the morning. Bugger.

Band update, since I haven't posted on this damn thing in almost two weeks: our show at Ocean Island on Friday was, I'd say, a huge success. Chris Ho and crew were fantastic and provided a fantastic open for the evening, and I think it's safe to say that he was responsible for a good chunk of the rooms-(yes, plural)packing crowd. There was honestly no room at all in either the main room or the adjacent bar, we had so many people show up. Apologies to the folks to couldn't get in, but on the upside, you can now expect to see us at larger and better venues. You can also expect to be able to get physical music recordings from us in the near future.

Yes, you heard right.

We're piling into Adam's house next weekend to record hopefully three tracks. We desperately need music for our myspace, we desperately need music for a festival application, and apparently Eden keeps getting asked where one can buy our CD, so I guess we need some of those too. I don't know if our recordings from next weekend will actually get put together into a physical and purchaseable CD, but regardless, we're super stoked.

Anyway, it's tylenol and homework time. I've had a mother of a headache for the last few days so I don't want to be up too late tonight (though I know I will be anyways, but whatever, what else is new.) G'night, y'all.















I've also found a lot of gems on youtube since I was last here, so it'd be a crime to not put up a treat today. This one is pure gold - be sure to check out more of his stuff.

The Bluegrass Equation

It's no secret that I've steadily been developing an increasingly strong love for bluegrass music, and damned if I can figure out how the hell this happened. In any case, I'm really growing to like this shit, and folks, I think I've figured out at least part of it.


Alex - Pre-19 years old: Does not like country music in any form.

Alex - Post-19 years old: Lives on Vancouver Island and begins drinking ever-increasing amounts of beer. Starts to love country and continues to love it more and more.

Sonuvabitch.



PS. Chris Thile does not normally sing like this. He is making a funny. He is also a terrifyingly good mandolinist. Seriously. It's scary. So is the rest of his band. They are obviously robots. Scary, hilarious robots.

Why We Play

What do the following people have in common?







They (in order of appearance: Pat M'Gonigle, Ollie Swain, Jenny Ritter, Elise Boeur and Meg Iredale, and Ryan, Taylor, and Adam from Fish & Bird) are all musicians from Victoria whom I've seen at a variety of places and for whom I have nothing but awe and the utmost respect.

I was making music with all of them until almost 4 AM last night at Adam's house in Fairfield.

Adam invited us (the band) to a big family party/gathering at his house after the show on Saturday, and when I stepped into their house, I have never felt so much character, love, and music in one place before. Ages ranged from me to folks easily in their sixties. Musicians ranged from casual to a quick who's who of young Victoria folk giants. A jam session of traditionals and originals opened in the middle of the house, and it kept going until a friend and I were the last to leave at 4 AM after helping Adam and his dad clean up.

Before a couple days ago, I never would've imagined that I would be up 'til the wee hours of the morning playing and laughing with musicians like that. I can keep pinching myself. I can keep feeling my finger calluses and blisters. I can say the words "fucking," "amazing," and "magical" until the cows come home. It is for times like that I play music, and it is simply not possible for me to convey how I felt while being with them all.

I don't know how to close this because I'm STILL smiling from last night, so I will suggest you do what I'm doing right now and just listen to all their music (names are linked after the photos). :)

Surreal

Beautiful merger with Nature on the way home from work. Detoured to Saxe Point and basked in the full moon over the ocean for a bit; literally no clouds across the strait so you could see Port Angeles and even the mountain outlines because of the moonlight. On the way back to Esquimalt Road I noticed a young buck standing under a streetlight (young buck as in a deer - no euphemisms here, people); naturally, I decided to investigate - joy of bicycles, my friends.

Of course, the buck took off when I neared, but as it did, around eight or nine other deer bounded out from behind some parked cars and lawns and started running with the original buck. I suddenly found myself riding about five feet behind and at pace with a small herd of deer; the only sounds were the whir from my chain and the thuds from their hooves. We ran/rode together for maybe half a block before they finally clued in to the whole "pursuit" thing and split off onto yards until there was just one doe, and then she trotted off onto another yard on my left. It was just my Bike and I again.

And then around a corner there were two racoons beating the shit out of each other.

The Wild, man.


And now, the Other Point for writing the post: a late-night song. I've posted versions of this song twice now, I think (very first post, if I recall correctly!), and you know that that means it's damn good. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Lisa Hannigan. Again.

One video viewer commented that her voice "massages that place of your brain where only coffee and hot showers can reach;" I have read few youtube comments that are truer than this - Lisa's singing and songs fill me with nothing but a delightfully mellow warmth, like a Girl sitting beside you under a blanket with a steaming cup of cocoa on a winter's day. Lengthy description, yes, but necessary for establishing sensation. Have a fine night (because it's 1 AM and I am crazy).

Censored?

This ain't on youtube - it pops up now and then but it's always gone pretty quick.

Odd, innit?....


Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire

PS. New blog layout. Dur. Givin'er a try; so far I think it's a keeper - I finally got the column width and placing sorted out so we'll no longer have big, awesome HD videos covering up everything on the right side of the page (not to mention I'm a huge sucker for old-school maps). If you have any particularly strong feelings about it, let me know I guess?...

Rage

Thanks to good ol' Shuffle I'm listening to Linkin Park for the first time in a very long while. I love that feeling when you listen to an old favourite band that's gone unlistened for ages, and you still remember every little detail about their songs and you still love them, although not as much as you used to.

I suppose it's kind of like running into a girl that you used to love, but you haven't seen her in what seems like forever, and then you run into her again. You suddenly remember all the feelings you had, and you can understand, seeing this woman again, why you felt the way you did, and you still do in a way, although it's not the same as it used to be.

Yeah, that's definitely what it's like, listening to an old favourite :P



And in regards to the video, I'm trying to imagine the sheer adrenaline and terror that must fill you when you're faced against a wall of faceless, armoured enemies. All I know is this: Rage is the scariest feeling in the world. I will be happy if I never feel it again.

Independence Day

I posted this video as the Post treat, but then I wanted it to have its own post because it's important to me and should be important to everyone else.

Then I realized that it's Independence Day today, and I can't think of any other day that would be better to watch this.

I've always said that Mark Hoppus made me want to learn bass, but Tim Commerford made me want to get good at it. I've been drilling my finger callouses back so I can play my bass without getting blisters, which basically means Rage Against The Machine binges (I'm pretty sure the neighbours don't know what to think - one night I'm listening to Corbin Murdoch and then the next I'm blasting RATM). Anyway, if you aren't familiar with Rage, you're either 10 or have spent your whole life listening to lame music. This is not a debateable fact. Rage is, in many opinions, the most outspoken and aggressive "political" band, hands down. Lyrics, performances (or lack thereof), organizational support, the list can go on and on about how Rage not only talked louder than any other group, but also walked their talk. Here's a full, high-quality video of their performance at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in LA. Catch it on Youtube for its full-screen, high-def glory. It deserves it.

Land's burstin' to the sky

I'm back. I feel ecstatically mellow and happy to be alive. And incredibly tired. See you soon.

Travellin' Man

Hey y'all. Just lettin' you know there won't be an update on Sunday; I'm heading to the island for the weekend. Here's a rad picture and some music for now.

Have a good weekend!

Luke Doucet.

I am incredibly angry with myself. Luke Doucet & Co. and James Lamb are in Vancouver. SIX DAYS AGO. Furious. Seriously. I am crushed. I was listening to Luke again this evening and decided to have a look at his myspace to see how many page views he had (woefully few - this guy is seriously the most underappreciated musician I can think of) and I saw that he had a Vancouver date ON MAY 3RD. I felt like crying a little bit. It's one thing to go see a band you like, but when said band is one of the finest guitarists in the deal today, gah. As a musician, that sort of thing is a real treat - it's so amazing and, well, educational even, when you get to see musicians of Luke Doucet's calibre.

Like I said, this guy is honestly the most underappreciated musician around today that I can think of. He's a BRILLIANT guitarist (really; I'm blown away every time I listen to him, and I've listened to a lot of truly great guitarists), and he's nearly as good a songwriter as he is a player. And yet, despite this, his album sales are indeed decent but certainly nothing like "popular" music sales. He draws a blank every time I mention him to anyone I know. His label has seventeen very high-quality videos of a complete show he did in Toronto on youtube, and yet none of them have more than 600 views. NONE of the videos of him on all of youtube have more than around twenty-thousand views (for reference, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" has over two-hundred-MILLION, and as a licensed musician I can confidently say that it is really bad).

In all honesty, I don't think Luke himself really cares that much. He's been touring and playing for most of his life - seriously, the guy started gigging around Canada with his dad when he was 13 or 14. He gets to live a life that few of us get to live: his entire livelihood comes from performing and producing albums. His wife is also a fantastic musician (Melissa McClelland - she's not as good a guitarist but she's still pretty good, and certainly prettier, which is saying a lot). In short, he's living the best life that is, in my opinion, possible. I just think it's perplexing that he continues to be so completely under the radar considering how incredibly talented he is.

Here's a perfect example to close for y'all: closer from the Mod Club set - this is "First Day in the New Home Town".



As of this posting, it's been on youtube for a week short of a year. It doesn't even have three-hundred views.

The Last Hurrah!

I would like to dedicate this post to The Gruff. For those who don't know, The Gruff are a fantastic bluegrass/folk band from Victoria. Like, extremely fantastic. I love them, and prior to hearing them I pretty much hated country music. Anyway, after a lot of great years they've decided to start touring in space... or something. Point is, they're not playing on this planet anymore - their cover story is that they're splitting up. Tonight and last night are/were their last shows, their "Last Hurrah" as they're calling it - tonight's show is in Victoria and last night they were at Cafe Deux Soleil in Vancouver and I was fortunate enough to be able to haul my ass all the way from Chilliwack to see them one last time. Amazing show, wonderful music, lovely ladies... er, band. Anyway, hats off to an amazing band, and the best of luck to all of them in their future schemes. To The Gruff!

As far as the 'Wack goes, the weather finally made up its mind, and the results are gorgeous. It's actually been on-and-off sun, especially today; I took Norton (my trusty bike) out for a long ride with my camera and discovered that a) Chilliwack IS super flat and b) the ride to Cultus Lake is shorter both vertically and distance-wise than I thought it would be, which is also awesome. I have the house blessedly to myself for the next week, and so far I've just been taking pictures, eating spot'n'go and playing ludicrous amounts of guitar out in the sun (so glorious). Here are a couple pictures from the pile:










And this is where I get to practice. Puts UVic to shame more than just a tad.




See y'all tomorrow mornin'!