The One Up Downstairs - S/T ep (1997)

This is a little tidbit from Mike Kinsella from over a decade ago. The band was only around long enough to record this 3 song ep (and didn't even last long enough to see it's release) but it's a damn good thing the Mike Kinsella train didn't stop there.













The One Up Downstairs - S/T ep (1997)
Chicago, Il

Tokyo Police Club double shot

Here's two little bits I've found from Tokyo Police Club. The first is a studio session from CBC radio3 that was done in Toronto and the other is a live show at Great Scott in Alliston, MA back in 2006. Also, I added the bonus disc from Elephant Shell just for any of you who jumped on the leak too soon and missed it.









Tokyo Police Club - CBC Radio 3 Session
Tokyo Police Club - Live @ Great Scott
Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell Bonus Disc (2008)
Newmarket, On
myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub
www.tokyopoliceclub.com

Five Blank Pages - Last Blush (2007)

Five Blank Pages is one of my favoutire Toronto bands and I was able to interview Noyan a few months ago about the recent line up changes and the future of the band.

First off, can you give a little rundown about how the band got started and what has gone on in the past five years?
Noyan: In a nutshell, I started the band as a solo project under another name back in 2002, my sister Chelen picked playing up the drums and a few months later, she joined. My then-girlfriend/now-wife, Pinar picked up the bass and a few weeks later, she joined. We changed the name to Five Blank Pages in 2003 as our sound was a bit more of a band-ish. We released an EP called "Spaces to Occupy and Abandon". We played many, many shows and a bunch of festivals. We performed with acts ranging from Bedouin Soundclash and Pilate to Malajube and moneen. We don't really sound like any of them but it's fun to be versatile enough that you fit. Rajiv joined the band on bass in February 2006; we played more shows and recorded our first full-length album with Jose Contreras. Entitled "Last Blush", we released it ourselves under the label City Mouse Records in October 2007.

How have things changed for the band since the release of Last Blush?
Noyan: We managed to get lots of college radio play with the album, charting high nationally, and we played many a show to support it. Things have been going very well but as the band begun taking up more and more time, Chelen and Rajiv decided to leave to pursue other interests. We had a huge show in early February at the Horseshoe Tavern to celebrate their time in the band with us. Since then, Pinar and I have been busy writing and taking some much needed time off from playing live.

What do you think are the best and/or worst elements of the music scene in Toronto?
Noyan: I think with any metropolis, there are just so many venues and so many bands and artists that there's just too much available to you. I know that seems like a silly thing to say but I think the average concert goer in Toronto can take for granted the quality of music that is around them, just because it is so readily available, every night of the week. It's definitely hard to impress that person. But, at the same time, for the person that can appreciate it, they can catch amazing music, at any given time pretty much in Toronto.

On the website, you were talking about the new songs that have been written, can you tell us a little about that?
Noyan: It's kind of backwards, but Pinar and I almost feel like there's even more freedom to write outside of the box with just the two of us. The songs right now are almost motion-picture-esque and kind of dark. The pop element of our music is being pushed a bit to the background. I don't really know how this is coming about as it's not conscious- the songs are just rolling out that way. It's somewhat organic even. Can a song be organic? Hmmm... I'm pretty sure there are no harmful fertilizers in our songs.

What challenges have you faced with Rajiv and Chelen's departure?
Noyan: We've really looked at the positives of the situation in that it has opened the possibility of reinvention. We're very excited about the prospect of new players and what they can bring to the new songs we've been writing. Onward and upwards!

How has the band evolved to make things still go smoothly as a two-piece?
Noyan: We've played at least a few shows as a two-piece, three-piece and I've played solo many times as well. The songs are pretty translatable into different arrangements. They really turn into something new, being stripped down. I like that about them. And it's always fun contrasting playing in a rock band with sometimes playing in a soft, quieter arrangement, where you can actually hear yourself sing. We won't always be playing as a two-piece but one nice thing about it so far is rehearsals being so easy... Pinar and I could be eating dinner at home and then be like "wanna rehearse?" and we just set things up wherever we like at home and play. It feels natural to be able to play music with someone right when you feel like it and not have to schedule it.

What are the plans for the future of Five Blank Pages?
Noyan: When the songs we're working on are ready we'll be making a record and releasing it. I guess the tentative plan is to have that before the year is up, hopefully sooner, but you know how things go... We'll also be playing a bit more into summer, in different arrangements and with a few surprises.

Five Blank Pages - Last Blush (2007)
Toronto, Canada
myspace.com/fiveblankpages

MF Doom - Live at 930 Club

There's not much that can be said about MF Doom. He is an experience that you can't put into words. Anyone who has heard him will understand this, anyone who hasn't needs to. He's certainly one of the most interesting, and eccentric, dudes in hip hop and I really hope it stays that way. Who else could pull off a rap concept album about food and then throw samples from the old Fantastic Four cartoon over top? Who does an entire album with a pretty big-name DJ (Danger Mouse) that is all about Adult Swim cartoons? That's Doom for ya, and here he is at Washington's 930 Club.


















MF Doom - Live at 930 Club
Long Island, NY
myspace.com/mfdoom

My Morning Jacket - Live At Bonnaroo (2008)

If you're one of those bastards who still hasn't listened to Evil Urges, the new My Morning Jacket album, then your 2008 has probably sucked. Anyways, Bonnaroo went down a little earlier this month and Jim James and his band of beard farmers have become a sort of a staple for the festival. If you didn't make it down, or even if you did and you want a little momento, this is the ticket for you.











My Morning Jacket - Live at Bonnaroo Disc 1
My Morning Jacket - Live at Bonnaroo Disc 2
My Morning Jacket - Live at Bonnaroo Disc 3
Louisville, KY
myspace.com/mymorningjacket
www.mymorningjacket.com

Blood Brothers Discography

I just stumbled across these in my searches today so I figured I would throw them up here if anyone is interested, though I don't think it's going to win over a lot of you. I've always equated the Blood Brothers sound to being aurally raped with broken glass, but in a good way!





















Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
Blood Brothers - Crimes
Blood Brothers - Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck EP
Blood Brothers - Burn Piano Island, Burn
Blood Brothers - This Adultery Is Ripe
Blood Brothers - March On Electric Children
Blood Brothers - Rumors Laid Waste
Seattle, WA
www.myspace.com/thebloodbrotherband
www.thebloodbrothers.com

Joan of Arc - Boo Human (2008)

First on the docket is the new Joan of Arc album. In lieu of a little write up which is what will usually accompany these posts, Im going to just put up a review on it that I wrote for my old job that was never published:

"As someone who has grown up with having Chicago’s Kinsella brothers around in a musical version of parents relying on their television sets to raise their kids (granted, I was already in my awkward teens by the time I came across Joan of Arc, but I like to believe that metaphor still stands), I’ve committed a great deal of time (and, for that matter, great acts) listening to the incestuous and ever-expanding tree of Kinsella bands (Joan of Arc, Owen, Cap’n Jazz, Make Believe, American Football, Owls, et all). I would have to say that, as a whole, it’s the Joan of Arc discography that I could do without. Perhaps it’s the sheer amount of albums by Joan of Arc compared to the rather limited and sometimes meagre collections released under different branches (Owls, for example, have only released one album, yet it is most certain that this is my favourite record bearing the Kinsella brand), or maybe it’s just in the areas where Joan of Arc deviates from what is generally expected from these bands that sometimes creates this friction with myself. With all of that said, let it be known that Boo! Human makes me rethink this stance.

As with any album featuring a Kinsella, Boo! Human reaches its best points during the dizzying, disjointing and rubbery guitar work that has become sort of the staple Kinsella sound. It is, in a way, a Universal Truth that first culminated in Cap’n Jazz and has just sort have stuck around through the other bands in the way that heroes always seem to have a certain favouring of the gods. It’s not necessarily as aggressive as Make Believe, as clear-cut and dreamy as Owls, or even as sentimental and swoony as Owen, but the guitar work on Boo! Human maintains the Tim Kinsella sound, while still, after nearing twenty years (it’s been that long already?!) sounding fresh.

It is, in comparison, a gentler side of Joan of Arc. The experimentation that has made albums like Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain more difficult to absorb has been somewhat relinquished for a more organic and caring sound similar to So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness or Eventually, All At Once. At times it can still be quite stark, but never for too long as it always, in a roundabout way, comes across in that sort of comfortable and controlled way like when an old friend does or says something that is so like their nature, that all you can do is smile warmly.

It doesn’t take an analytical genius to get the impression that this is going to be a very important album, if not, perhaps the most, for the band. After a decade and a dozen albums, Boo! Human shows the experienced gained through all this time, but executes the sum of all those cultivated parts with enough youthful exuberance to keep the album sounding fresher than any of the band’s previous albums."

Joan Of Arc - Boo Human (2008)
Chicago, Ill
http://www.myspace.com/joanofarcpvjtrec

Album dump

Im going to just dump a bunch of stuff on right now to get everything on track so enjoy!

My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth (2008)
Sonic Youth - Hits Are for Squares (2008)
Iron and Wine - Lovesong of the Buzzard EP (2008)
Ratatat - LP3 (2008)
Wolf Parade - At Mt Zoomer (2008)
Mount Eerie - Black Wooden Ceiling Opening (2008)
Man Man - Rabbit Habits (2008)
Lightspeed Champion - Falling off the Lavender Bridge (2008)
Islands - Arms Way (2008)
Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood (2008)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lay Down In the Light (2008)
Animal Collective - Water Curses EP (2008)