More pics from the Creepin' Chester show in Hamilton!

Whatta man whatta man, whatta mighty good man.

SOOOOO happy I finally got to see Jean play live with his former band, Creepin' Chester. They rocked Hamilton a few weeks ago at The Corktown. Such a fun time!! I swooned a whole lot and was giddy like a schoolgirl. More pics to come, but the first one is my fave.

Eet, Regina Spektor

Laughing With

Regina Spektor has such a dreamy voice. I really love this song. It breaks my heart a little bit.

Here I come Lucinda!

Lucinda Williams is playing the Queen Elizabeth Theater in Toronto in October! And I'm going with my friends!

She announced a series of special performances to celebrate her 30th anniversary as a recording artist. I love her music, I love her voice, I love her lyrics and I love that she supports Amnesty International. I can't wait to see her live.

You can dooooo it.

And while I'm at it, if you haven't seen this by now, you're in for a treat.
Enjoy some of this Instant Happy.



Good song too! Bruises, by the band Chairlift.

I have a date tonight with a woman named Neko.

EEEEEP!!! It's Neko Case tonight! At Massey Hall no less. And great floor seats! I cannot wait.

I'm still riding high from the incredible and magical experience that was Oumou Sangare on Sunday night in Queen's Park. Wow wow wow.

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of seeing Beirut perform live. That was such a solid show with the longest encore set I've ever experienced. Love them.

And now it's finally time to see Neko Case. Again I say, EEEEEP!
Happy Tuesday indeed.

Here's the acoustic version of one of my favourite tunes, People Got a Lotta Nerve.

Oumou Sangare

I'm so happy my friend Colin turned me onto Oumou Sangare. She's a Malian superstar with a beautiful, joyful, confident voice. Seya (which means Joy) is her latest album and I find I'm listening to it almost daily. Read more about it and listen to the wonderful song Iyo Djeli here. Needless to say, I am very excited to see her perform tonight in Queen's Park as part of Afrofest, the largest annual African music event in Canada. And it's a free concert!

Enjoying a warm, summer evening, hanging out with friends and listening to incredible, inspirational music, can my Sunday be any sweeter?

Take a look:



Copyright Ed Alcock

MMMetric

Metric is such a great band. They've been on heavy rotation as of late.

Love Emily Haines. Love this song. Makes me want to have a dance party of one.



And listen to this. Wow. Her voice breaks my heart. Love the close-up camera work too.

Michael Jackson: 1958 - 2009

I'm still in shock that MJ is gone. Like millions of others, I grew up with his music. My sister introduced me to The Jackson 5 and Michael (thanks Steph!) when I was a very little person. Billie Jean, I Want You Back, ABC, The Way You Make Me Feel, Thriller (amazing how that video still creeps me out), Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Bad and the list goes on. There were routines with friends, lip syncs, mixed tapes and many failed attempts to moonwalk. The Jackson 5 will always remind me of summers at my cottage and Michael Jackson will always remind me of being young and thinking I had the coolest sister in the whole world who listened to the coolest music. I remember staring at his poster on Steph's bedroom wall and thinking wow, that guy is awesome. Found a picture online of that exact poster..oh the eighties.



Say what you want about him but let's remember that Michael Jackson was a musical genius and universally inspiring. King of Pop indeed.

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."
- Michael Jackson

I'm a sucker for animated music videos.

Wow. This song and video...both incredible. Why haven't I come across it earlier?

Death Cab for Cutie, Grapevine Fires

The song is based on a true story from the California wildfires of 2008. Directed by Walter Robot and animated by Bill Barminski.

Dark Was The Night

I wish I had me a place in New York City for a variety of reasons: the photography galleries, museums, inspiration, music, shopping, restaurants, and being able to hang out regularly with my friends Wendy and Mark and their 2 cute kids.

Also...

I would love love love to see the Dark Was The Night show at Radio City Music Hall on May 3rd. The concert will feature The National, David Byrne, Feist, Dirty Projectors, My Brightest Diamond and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. All proceeds go to The Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture.

My friend Colin first turned me on to this double disc album and I'm so glad he did. It's fanfreakingtastic. It's better to buy it rather than download it because the monies go to Red Hot.





The National on Pitchfork.tv
"So Far Around the Bend"

Countdown to Andrew Bird!

Only 4 more sleeps! I am giddy beyond belief to see Andrew Bird on Friday at the Queen Elizabeth Theater! I got tickets for part of our anniversary present and we've been waiting patiently since February for this show. And now it's almost here! Love his music and energy, his mad whistling skills and the way he plays violin. He's one of those people that simply makes you think, yup, he was born to do that and share it with lots and lots of people.

Here he is on Letterman, singing Fitz and the Dizzyspells from his latest album, Noble Beast. You can listen to an NPR interview with Andrew Bird, as well as the entire album here. And while I'm on the subject, I should take a minute to rave about NPR's: All Songs Considered. Weekly podcasts about what's new and exciting in music. A great kick off to the week.

Now back to Bird. 4 more sleeps!!!!



I also love these photographs of him by Cameron Wittig. The lighting, the mood, the simplicity, the setting, it all really pleases me. I do love a good portrait and I think Wittig has made some truly beautiful pictures.

Um...obsessed.

Neko Case's new album, Middle Cyclone, has been on heavy rotation these days. Can't stop listening to it. That voice! Wish wish wish I had tickets to her concert in April. Sigh.




This is my favourite song on the album. The video is equally satisfying.

Got my ticket in my hot little hand.

Soooo excited to see Loney, Dear!!! Emil Svanängen is the talented Swede behind it all, and he's playing the Rivoli in May and I'm going!! Tickets are only $10. Hard to resist.

Just try to sit still while you listen to this. Impossible.

The Happiness Project!

I am so inspired, energized and well...really HAPPY right now! Just came back from experiencing Charles Spearin's The Happiness Project at the Music Gallery with my friend Mark. It was mind blowing and I need time to process it. But let me just say that this is exactly the type of thing we need more of in the world. The positive energy in the room was incredible. Mrs. Morris is my favourite! I could listen to her all day long. Her voice makes my heart sing. I really hope The Happiness Project comes back to Toronto so everyone I know can go see it. It was, hands down, one of the best shows I have experienced in my life. If it comes to your city...do not miss out!

http://www.happiness-project.ca/




Below is Charles Spearin's explanation of the project:
________________________________________________________
These are my neighbours. My wife and I have two little kids and live in a multi-cultural neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. In the hot summer months all the kids in the neighbourhood play outside together and everyone is out on their porch enjoying each other’s company, telling stories and sharing thoughts. A year or so ago I began inviting some of them over to the house for a casual interview vaguely centered around the subject of happiness. In some cases we never broached the subject directly but none-the-less my friends began to call it my “Happiness Project”.

After each interview I would listen back to the recording for moments that were interesting in both meaning and melody. By meaning I mean the thoughts expressed, by melody I mean the cadence and inflection that give the voice a sing-song quality. It has always been interesting to me how we use sounds to convey concepts. Normally, we don’t pay any attention to the movement of our lips and tounge, and the rising and falling of our voices as we toss our thoughts back and forth to each other. We just talk and listen. The only time we pay attention to these qualities is in song. (Just as when we read we don’t pay attention to the curl and swing of the letters as though they were little drawings.)

Meaning seems to be our hunger but we should still try to taste our food. I wanted to see if I could blur the line between speaking and singing - life and art? - and write music based on these accidental melodies. So I had some musician friends play, as close as they could, these neighbourhood melodies on different instruments (Mrs. Morris on the tenor saxophone, Marisa on the harp, my daughter Ondine on the violin, etc.) and then I arranged them as though they were songs.

All of the melodies on this album are the melodies of every day life.

- Charles Spearin, founding member of Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think

I can't stop listening to Beirut.

Their new album is AMAZING!! It makes me miss Oaxaca soooo much. I even miss the terribly off key, sour note oom pa pa band that practiced EVERY DAY in our village and surprisingly never got better.

www.beirutband.com



***from their website:
Entitled March of the Zapotec, the first EP consists of songs written by Beirut and recorded in Mexico with the help of Oaxacan march masters The Jimenez Band. The second EP, Holland, showcases Zach's latest bedroom-style recordings under his former moniker Realpeople, including the previously released "Venice" (in the 2007 Believer music issue), and "My Night With the Prostitute From Marseille" (on the Natalie Portman curated Big Change charity album). Taken together, the two EPs proudly display the scope of Beirut's work over the last year.