CMW Recap

Celebration! 4 nights, 44 venues, 500 bands, all cramped into one city for Canadian Music Week. Such an event could only take place in the centre of Canada (if not the world), Toronto. That same omnipresence rightfully allows us to horde Canada-wide industry bosses and media groupies alike together for an incredibly pretentious reception of the CMW awards gala, the Indies.

Not that there was any shortage of rocking, mind you. Vancouver's New Pornographers headlined a lineup including fan favourite Tokyo Police Club, the Besnard Lakes, the Cliks, and Attack in Black, plus a special appearance by lifetime achievement awardees Lowest of the Low. And they put on a show for possibly the most influential yet least involved crowd imaginable.

The Rosemont's banquet hall was lit more so to see peoples' name tags while mingling than to showcase the bands. One can also assume the drinks were so ridiculously expensive to discourage rowdiness that could result in damaged furnishings. But for what it was worth, the show went on just fine. Of the lesser-recognized acts, the Besnard Lakes made the biggest splash, displaying a multitude of sounds over their two song demo. Attack in Black put on a dope set as well, although you wouldn't be able to tell based on their energy-drained postshow interview.

Lowest of the Low performed an underappreciated set for a crowd generally beyond their time. Although they opened their set with a tuning mix-up, their willingness to rock out with a hardcore fan made at least his day and lightened the show's tense overtone a good deal. That opened the curtains in a sense for Toronto-area rockers Tokyo Police Club. They used the first extended set of the night to showcase some new tracks off their upcoming album, Elephant Shell, as well as their singles to get the crowd at least semi-lively.

The main event was Canadian indie music godfathers the New Pornographers, but a sizable portion of the crowd had left after Canadian indie music darlings Tokyo Police Club were done. Even without Neko Case, though, they still kept it rolling with the liveliest set of the night. They also performed some new joints in support of their 2007 effort, Challengers.

As for the awards themselves, the big winner was Feist, although I'm not sure how much indie cred she has after 1,2,3,4 blew up. Then again, I'm glad she took home something (on behalf of her Arts & Crafts label) after getting jobbed at the Grammys. At the end of the day, she's still got Canada's love. Halifax emcee Classified took home the Favourite Urban Artist award, while commercial rockers Major Maker were crowned best... website. But regardless of who won for what category, Canadian indie music was the real winner throughout CMW.

The New Pornographers

BRING IT BACK

The Big Bad Borz, your number one source for 80's goodness!








PEACE

Tha RZA, Tha GZA, Ol' Dirty.........

I've been slacking on my concert going lately, I'll admit. Major concerts, mind you - I just checked my man Shehzaad and the rest of the dudes in Arietta plus that dude Mike Appleton last Saturday at Sneaky Dee's and the El Mocambo. But the last time I saw a real, touring, out-of-town band was back in early December when I caught the Dillinger Escape Plan at the Opera House.

Then again, to be honest, not many artists that pique my interest have come around the way since then... well, with the exception of Lupe Fiasco, Danko Jones, and Chimaira, off the top of my head... all right so maybe I could have peeped a couple more gigs. But I didn't, and that's the story. So here I am, show thirsty and slightly bummed that the only concert prospects in the near future are K-Ci & Jo-Jo and Peter Bjorn and John. Nothing against any of those guys, but I'm in the mood for a truly hype show. If I'm getting back in the swing of things, I don't want to sway my body and put up my lighter. I'd much prefer to mosh and snap my neck back and forth so vigourously that it's attached to the rest of my body only by my rasped out vocal chords, barely audible from reciting... erm... screaming out the lyrics word for word. Or at least, even if I don't know the lyrics entirely, just from screaming out of pure drunken amazement at how the music has taken form on its way from the instruments to the vocals to the monitors to the resonance of the empty beer bottles to the battered walls of a venue far beyond its time, to my ears.

Enter the GZA. The Genius. The prime lyricist of the Wu-Tang Clan, the self-proclaimed greatest group of all time, remembered in large part for their lyrical ingenuity (and bridging the gap between kung-fu and rap). Known for making crowds protect their necks, educating the masses about c.r.e.a.m. and the mysteries of chessboxing, the GZA in particular with his liquid swords. So when I got a link last week from the aforementioned Shehzaad - while wallowing in my musically deprived state of depression - telling me that not only was GZA/Genius coming to town, but he was coming to perform his classic Liquid Swords album in its entirety(!!!), of course I was hyped right away. So yesterday after school, I ran down to the Sunrise at Yonge & Sheppard - literally, I almost slipped on the slush tracks people brought from outside - and picked up my ticket for the February 8th show. So for all of you who know, and everyone should, who the GZA is, get that ticket! It's gonna be a party. And for those who don't (tsk tsk)... I leave you this:



Peace!

99 problems but a Clinton ain't one

So Obama's a hip hop head --
The issue of Hip Hop music and lyrics have also surfaced in this campaign, with Obama's camp coming under fire for the use of a Jay-Z song.

During Obama's victory party in Iowa, Jay's "99 Problems" was played over the loud speaker. Some imply that the line "99 problems but a bitch ain't one" was a thinly veiled shot at his political rival.

The Clinton camp says they "didn't know" Obama used the song and Obama says he is a fan of rap music, dismissing the notion that the song selection was aimed at his political rival.

"I tell you what, I can tell you the kinds of stuff I love dancing to . . . I'm sort of the generation of Stevie Wonder and Earth Wind & Fire," he said in an interview with CNN. "But I'm sort of hip to the younger stuff. You know, like Beyoncé's 'Crazy in Love.' That's a good song to dance to. Eminem . . . although he curses sometimes."

Link

LMAO... now this next clip is semi-unrelated but cool nonetheless.

Peace... Obama 08

This is the life on mars

Sometimes I wanna shout out loud, "F the world"
But mohter Earth's been around
Loose, used up, tired of being a naked girl
She's looking for a courtisan

But all I see are pimps in preachers' clothing
They claim god's name to conceal their groping
Tarred and feathered, scarred and teathered, cultures, people broken
Now they tar tobacco so we're sheesha smoking

It's hard to grow back to old paths and ways
With our past marred by Europeans rafting slaves
Negroes, chinks and injuns, engines of west society
While whitey sits back and collects all their piety

Sexy resources will drive a crusader wild
Even coerce to procreate a bastard child
Mama Nature's raped and pillaged so productivity rise
Now those pills have aged and rendered her infertile

Crucifying humanity six feet underneath
He maintains six inches for good measure
For Christ, king, democracy, always changing his sheets
Who knew matricide brought such raw pleasure

They say whitey's on the moon, it'll be too soon
Before they set up another method to get us behind bars
Ayrabs and gay fags can join in the fun
Space shipped off with negroes, chinks and injuns
To the biggest ghetto on Mars

Intro duck

What's up everybody?

So this is it... the blog life. I've finally been dragged into this world of e-ranting and vain opinionated broadcasting. No that stint I had on myspace doesn't count. So yeah, I'll start this wretched experiment in online attention whoring by welcoming the three people reading this to my erm... blog.

Be forewarned - don't expect to be enlightened by reading my blog. Don't expect any lame wannabe-artsy hipster lingo. Don't expect my musical taste to feed your aural cravings. Don't expect this blog to change the world, or really do anything but waste your time. But then again, isn't that what blogging is all about?

Anywho, to put an end to this post's misery, I'll leave you with a video clip I stole from youtube. A lot of people ask me where I'm from. I tell them Toronto. Then they say I'm lying, call me a terrorist, and tell me to get out of their country. I guess what they really mean to ask is where my ancestry traces back to. And I tell them...


Anyway, I'm out... peace!
-Alborz