Makin' It Viral II

Makin' It Viral

Buy: oldliferecords.com
Buy: Ditch Records, Victoria

Request: Campus/ community stations all across Canada including CFUV, CiTR, CKDU, CJSW, CJSR, etc.

Playlist 09/05/31

Almonds, Cohen/ Amazing Grass/ Two Magpies
Almonds, Cohen/ Amazing Grass/ Scotch Tapes
Mike Evin/ Good Watermelon/ Good Watermelon
Dreamdate/ Patience/ 8 Sleeves
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone/ Vs. Children/ White Jetta
Au Revoir Simone/ Still Night, Still Light/ Shadows
Headless Heroes/ The Silence of Love/ Here Before
Wake the President/ You Can't Change That Boy/ Miss Tierney
Liechtenstein/ Survival Strategies in a Modern World/ Roses in the Park
Liechtenstein/ Survival Strategies in a Modern World/ All At Once
Dog Day/ Concentration/ Wait It Out
Julie Doiron/ I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day/ Spill Yer Lungs
Clues/ s/t/ Haarp
'It It/ Hang Out/ Oh, Man
Think About Life/ Family/ Johanna
Endangered Ape/ Ape Shall Not Kill Ape/ Whites of My Eyes
Boutaiba Sghir/ 1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground/ Dayha Oulabes (I'll Marry Her Whether They Like It or Not)

Someone requested Daniel Johnston. I'll try to get to that in two weeks, when I do my next show. I won't be here next Sunday, as I will be seeing Jens Lekman that night. Fuck yeah. I can't even pretend I'm not so excited. He's my absolute favourite. Like, do I want to see the Beatles, back from old age and the dead? No way. I want to see Jens Lekman. Did you even have to ask?

Playlist 09/05/24

Jens Lekman/ Night Falls Over Kortedala/ Kanske Är Jag Kär i Dig
Thomas Mapfumo & the Acid/ Hokoyo!/ Hokoyo!
Bellemou & Benfissa/ 1970s Algerian Proto-Rai Underground/ Bout ai ba Sghir
Adrian Orange & Her Band/ Adrian Orange & Her Band/ Then We Play
Soup Dragons/ Hang Ten!/ Girl in the World
The Pastels/ Sittin' Pretty/ Nothing to be Done
Madness/ Absolutely/ Embarassment +
Camera Obscura/ My Maudlin Career/ French Navy
Wake the President/ You Can't Change That Boy/ Mail, Alice
Jenny Owen Young/ Transmitter Failure/ What Beats Within
Cryptacize/ Mythomania/ Tail & Mane
Magnetic Fields/ 69 Love Songs 3/ Yeah! Oh, Yeah! *
Magnetic Fields/ 69 Love Songs 2/ Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old*
Flowers of Hell/ Come Hell or High Water/ Darklands

+ A Christos tip
* Requests

Playlist 09/05/17

Camera Obscura/ My Maudlin Career/ French Navy
Casper & the Cookies/ Modern Silence/ Cloud of Bees
Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds/ Dracula Boots/ I Found a Peanut
Naomi Shelton/ What Have You Done, My Brother?/ He Knows My Heart
Crocodiles/ Summer of Hate/ I Wanna Kill
My Teenage Stride/ Ears Like Golden Bats/ That Should Stand for Something
Jesus & Mary Chain/ Psychocandy/ Cut Dead
Mika Miko/ We Be Xuxa/ I Got a Lot (New New New)
Vapid/ Emergency Room Vol. 1/ Sex Stain
Kisses of Fire/ Only Mountains/ Bluebird
Almonds, Cohen/ Amazing Grass/ Scotch Tapes
Almonds, Cohen/ Amazing Grass/ The Rose
The Soup Dragons/ Hang-Ten!/ Hang-Ten
The Hunches/ Exit Dreams/ Swim Hole
Beat Happening/ Dreams/ Hot Chocolate Boy
The Lucksmiths/ Warmer Corners/ Great Lengths
The Lucksmiths/ Green Bicycle Case/ Motorscooter

:'(

A sad message to all our friends

Dear Friends,

There's no easy way to put this, so please accept our apologies for the seemingly abrupt nature of this post. We are saddened to announce that after sixteen years as The Lucksmiths, the band has decided to break up.

The last few years have been an uphill battle in many ways, so this isn't a hasty decision based on any falling-out between band members, but rather, an acceptance of the inevitable. This decision was finally reached a few months back, so we've had plenty of time to let it sink in.

We had tried to operate the band in a way that would suit all of us, but at the same time we've been very conscious that too much compromise would in the end affect our creative output. We're very proud of the music we make, and we certainly didn't want it to start stinking. So, in taking our cues from Devo, we've decided to whip the proverbial cream before it sits out too long.

We're really excited about our upcoming European tour, and have booked some Australian dates for our "farewell tour" in August. The details for these shows are in our gig guide. We really hope to see as many people at these shows as possible, as we will be playing super long sets, cramming in as many old favourites as possible.

We must apologise for not making it back to the USA, Canada, Japan, New Zealand or Singapore, or to the other amazing European countries we've previously visited — and for never having made it to the other fifty or so countries we'd hoped to tour one day.

We really want to thank you all, especially the wonderful people who've helped us out in any way, and anyone who's listened to our music or come to a show. We've loved having you in our world and we will miss you dearly.

xo The Lucksmiths

She was nothing but a party girl...

CMJ 2009, here I come.

Playlist 09/05/10

Dirty Projectors/ Bitte Orca/ Stillness is the Move
Dirty Projectors/ Bitte Orca/ Two Doves
Annette Poindexter & Pieces of Peace/ Numero Group: 2008/ Mama
Theron & Darrell/ Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace/ It's Your Love
Camera Obscura/ My Maudlin Career/ The Sweetest Thing
Jens Lekman/ Night Falls Over Kortedala/ Shirin
Jonathan Richman/ Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild/ As My Mother Lay Lying
Bill Callahan/ Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle/ Too Many Birds
Dog Day/ Concentration/ Neighbour
Pink Mountaintops/ Outside Love/ While We Were Dreaming
Arigato! Hato/ Arigato! Hato/ Mister Music Maker
Cryptacize/ Mythomania/ The Loving Sun
The Vaselines/ Enter the Vaselines/ Red Poppy
Tara Jane O'Neil/ A Ways Away/ In Tall Grass

Sves Yeung, formerly of CFUV shows Sundry and Alphanumeric chatted with me on G&L today. Max (Alphanumeric, $1 Radio Grab Bag) and Sves read a PSA in unison--well, almost in unison. Thanks for visiting, you two! Visitors two weeks in a row; I'm so spoiled.

I played a few mother-ish songs and a lot of female vocalists in honour of Mother's Day. If you haven't done so already, at least phone your mum/ mother figure/ aunt/ grandmother/ your friend who is a mom herself/ anyone you know who is a mother and wish them well.

This isn't a twitter

Lol @ the shiny black bubble package sent from Massive Music.
Why is baseball in bottom of mail box?
New Liechtenstein is so good/ Bricolage is only OK.
So hungry.
MM ad person is very uptight but makes effort to be friends.
Letter whining about CFUV in Monday just makes writer sound like sad old dude past his prime
Waiting for the day I reach into a padded mailer and receive scorpion bite.
Office to myself=nice but being at work when it's sunny=blah
Still hungry post-sandwich.

Live Shows Update

Photo c/o http://www.flickr.com/photos/graye/
I recently posted excited announcements about the upcoming Brickyard shows featuring White Lung and Petroleum By-Products. Unfortunately, both of these shows (and all shows at the Brickyard) have been cancelled due to venue licensing problems and neighbour complaints. The Brickyard was a fun, central albeit cramped, narrow, sweaty, claustrophobic venue whose tiny back room permitted only a handful of people to actually watch bands who were performing. Although the venue wasn't ideal, it worked well enough--especially when it allowed the under-19 set to watch its concerts.



Photo c/o Sves Yeung
Camas Book & Infoshop, also known as "the anarchist bookstore" at the corner of Quadra and Kings, has also been barred from hosting all-ages concerts from May 15 onwards. I feel particularly saddened by this closure; Ryan, Cody, Troy, Tyler, myself and many other people organized so many memorable shows at that space. I really thought that the Camas crew had finally found a way to make an all-ages venue work--bookstore and workshop space by day/ venue by night, volunteer-run, inclusive, well-loved and well-used by numerous music and activist communities. From my understanding, Camas does not violate by-laws; however, the zoning of its building does not permit live shows. Two years is a good run for an all-ages space (unfortunately), but the way Camas functioned in a seemingly more sustainable, less covert way gave me false hope that Victoria might actually have a lasting all-ages venue. Go to the Famines/ B-Lines show tonight (8pm), because there won't be many Camas shows left. Show your support for the venue/ bookstore/ home base at Quadra Village Day next Saturday (May 9) where Old Life bands will be playing.

What now? We've collectively ended our grace period at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (you can only get away with loud rock music and people--however subtley--drinking alcohol for so long a residential church that holds AA meetings and houses a pre-school), so that all-ages space is now out of the picture except for quiet, seated shows on Saturday nights only (their youth group now meets on Friday nights). We are now left with the Bayanihan Centre, the (costly) Sunset Room, and the (small, joyfully illegal, enthusiastic, cigarette-fumey) Fifty-Fifty Arts Collective. Community halls and churches are less than ideal for all-ages community organizers because their function in a given music scene is often fleeting and temporal, while artist-run spaces like the Fifty-Fifty--who supports and participates in all-ages events--must maintain a certain level of exclusivity and secrecy in order to go undetected by by-law enforcement officers, fire marshalls, and police.

I really believe in all-ages shows. They kept me sane, out of trouble, and engaged in some sort of community when I was a teenager, and they have allowed many bands who aren't suited to bar venues to play to audiences. Victoria should have a sustainable, affordable, legal all-ages venue, but like many other cities, we don't have one--yet.

Playlist 09/05/03

The Crabs/ Sand and Sea/ Classic Crabs
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone/ Vs. Children/ Natural Light
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone/ Vs. Children/ Tom Justice, the Choir Boy Robber, Apprehended at Ace Hardware in Libertyville, IL
Bubblegum Lemonade/ Ten Years Younger/ Unsafe at Any Speed
The Jesus and Mary Chain/ Darklands/ April Skies
Camera Obscura/ My Maudlin Career/ Honey in the Sun
Jens Lekman/ Night Falls Over Kortedala/ And I Remember Every Kiss
B-Lines/ Demo/ Burnt CDs
B-Lines/ Demo/ In the Red
The Vaselines/ Enter the Vaselines/ You Think You're a Man
Sandy Posey/ Best of Sandy Posey/ Arms Full of Sin
Loretta Lynn/ Pregnant Again b/w You're a Cross I Can't Bear/ You're a Cross I Can't Bear
Bee Gees/ Idea/ When the Swallows Fly
Macadamia Brothers/ The Third Old Life Compilation/ Gazebo
Cryptacize/ Mythomania/ Tail & Mane
Almonds, Cohen/ Amazing Grass/ Ring Finger

Today's show started off with geeky shorts, moved into all-black Ray-Bans, brought out the horn and string sections, got punk, got sassy, played innocent, imparted wisdom, and spoke of things to come. Special guests showed up: Brock of Almonds, Cohen, Colourbook, and 'it It fame; and Cody of Old Life Records, 'it It, and Young Lions. Thanks for the calls, callers.

Things I'll try to get to next week include the Casiotone singles collection, Comet Gain, Experimental Dental School, new Pink Mountaintops, and lots more.