Katuwapitiya

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the blog, just a lot of travel plans in the works. Expect some major updates in the mid-late august time frame. I’m talking major. Until then, here’s a song about my city that I stumbled upon and like, “Toronto” by Frends:

The Dig opened up for The Joy Formidable a few weeks ago at The Horseshoe Tavern and I was impressed enough to buy their album. Here is the standout track, “Sick Sad Morning”:

It’s taken me this long to write a post because I’ve been unable to put into words my love for the new Titus Andronicus album “The Monitor”. I have yet to skip a song while listening to the album, even though most of the songs are more than 8 minutes long. It’s that good. The album starts off with an incredible excerpt from Abraham Lincoln’s Lyceum Address:

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?– Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!–All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide”

It makes me feel American pride and I’m a Canadian. The concept of the album is awesome, a perfectly-utilized civil war theme is consistent throughout. Speeches from Lincoln and abolitionists are interspersed between tracks like “Four score and seven” and “The Battle of Hampton Roads”. But this isn’t like some sort of civil war re-enactment with weird men in stuffy suits shooting fake guns. Each song builds into some incredible melodies and kick-ass riffs. The vibe of the whole album reminds me of Bright Eyes with more of an edge (sort of like in his song “Hot Knives“). And the lyrics, the lyrics are just incredible. Off the top of my head, this has become a favourite:

“I’ve been called out, cuckolded, castrated, but I survived. I am covered in urine and excrement but I’m alive. And there’s a white flag in my pocket, never to be unfurled. Though with their hands ’round my ankles, they bring me down for another swirl. And they tell me, ‘take it easy buddy – it’s not the end of the world’”

I cannot state this strongly enough. Listen to this album. Don’t skip a song because you don’t like how it starts or because the vocals initially rub you the wrong way. You will not be disappointed. This album is phenomenal.

… Oh and did I mention that they’re touring right now? Here’s the album closer “The Battle of Hampton Roads” and just wait for the mystery instrument to kick in at the end. It blew me away. Literally. I fell down and had scrapes on my elbows resembling a bike accident after listening to this song.

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“And so now when I drink, I’m going to drink to excess,
And when I smoke, I will smoke gaping holes in my chest,
And when I scream, I will scream until I’m gasping for breath,
And when I get sick, I will stay sick for the rest,
Of my days peddling hate out the back of a Chevy Express,
Each one a fart in the face of your idea of success”

People Under The Stairs at the Opera House

I don’t go to rap shows much anymore. I listen to rap for lyrics, a beat and flow and you can easily get all that from listening to a recording. Rock shows are amazing because of live instrumentation, improvisation, and the vocals. Watching a DJ play the instrumental of a song while a rapper (and usually 2-3 of his annoying friends) recite the lyrics doesn’t give me the same sense of satisfaction. I used to think that freestyles were awesome, especially when Com Sense rapped about MY CAMERA. But then I saw his other “freestyles” from that tour and seeing the same lines over and over shattered my innocence. (To think, I really thought freestyles were all created on the spot!)

Thes One

Double K

With that said, People Under The Stairs put on a hell of a show. The energy from Thes One and Double K really got the crowd moving, they put the last MC I saw live to shame (Yes, this means you, Talib Kweli). Their whole vibe was old school hip hop and I loved it. A throwback to the golden age of real mc’s that rocked the crowds with a laid back swagger.

Considering that I only really know a handful of their tracks, I was impressed by how much they maintained my attention throughout their set. The crowd was surprisingly responsive for a Toronto crowd, making my first experience at The Opera House a memorable one. I can’t wait to return in May for a slightly different vibe from Scottish indie rockers Frightened Rabbit (here’s a review of them from last summer)!

Highlight of the night was San Francisco Knights of course (pretty much the only reason we went in the first place), but L.A. Song had us all moving as well, here’s video evidence of both:

Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think brought their post-rock stylings to the Enwave Theatre last night for the last of 3 concerts at the venue. Overall, the venue impressed me. Nice balcony seating, awesome acoustics and a pretty great location right in front of the Harbourfront Centre.

Opening act The Happiness Project (made up of members from DMST) had me skeptical when they first started, but eventually won me over. The album is made up of personal stories set to music. The build-up of “Vanessa”, a neighbour who was born deaf talking about her ability to hear music with cochlear implants, is a gem.

DMST Brass Section

DMST also impressed with some awesome instrumentation and slow builds to climaxes of epic proportions. My personal highlight was “Make” but most of the songs were about 10 minutes long so it’s hard to remember. To be honest, DMST isn’t really my sort of music. I guess I’m more of the instant gratification type. With that said, patience paired with a song by DMST pays off. Definitely an experience that I’d love to repeat.

Justin Small of Do Make Say Think

Now stay tuned to this blog over the next few weeks for my year-end lists including: 10 worst lyrics of 2009, 10 best albums of the decade and 10 best songs of the decade.

“This isn’t a TV screen, this is MASSEY HALL!“- Emily Haines

Emily Haines of Metric

I asked a question long ago about whether Karen O was the most electric lead singer of a band that I have ever seen. I was unsure because I felt like Emily Haines might be better. Having seen Emily while I was young and naive, I needed to see Metric in their current state to make up my mind.

I’ve just come home from seeing Metric at Massey Hall and I’ve made up my mind. Emily Haines is the best. Hands down.

Emily Haines rocking the mic

Openers The Stills are a band that I’ve never quite understood. To me, they sound a little too mundane, too middle of the road.

The Stills keeping the crowd relatively still -rimshot-

Needless to say, I was bored out of my mind waiting for Metric to start. Their two recent singles were the only bright spots of what was a mediocre setlist. But that’s just me.

My analysis may be a bit harsh but compared to Metric, most bands sound like crap. Once Metric came on, it was like a blast of energy.

Metric hits the stage at Massey Hall

They completely rocked the sold-out venue. They mixed in a lot of old and new and were able to add a few new touches here and there to keep things truly fresh and engaging. Sick Muse had a few of these touches and had the crowd going mental. Stadium Love also had the same effect. Overall, Emily Haines was the same bottle of energy that I first encountered in an 8 dollar concert at The Wave on Western’s campus in 2005.

Talk to the hand

The only negatives (besides The Stills) were due to the venue itself. 8 dollar beers? Come on Massey Hall, I see indie bands for 10. I’m also not used to everyone around me not jumping around bumping into one another. The seated venue, while amazing acoustically, left a bit to be desired in terms of a raucous atmosphere. Finally, there was a douche security guard on our side of the room who seemed to be on a power trip. He went around telling people to stop recording (while there were clearly others on the left side of the room going nuts with their cameras). I managed to get a video of Gold, Guns, Girls and also pushed my luck with the final encore of Combat Baby (acoustic) (which was an amazing sing-a-long). The Combat Baby video was filmed after a warning so I tried to hide my camera behind someone’s head. It didn’t work for the whole song as you’ll see the security guard’s bald head at the end as I was turning my camera vertically and stuff to pretend that I was taking pictures. Haha, it was worth it.

From memory, I think the setlist was:

1. Twilight Galaxy
2. Help I’m Alive
3. Satellite Mind
4. Handshakes
5. Poster of a Girl
6. Gold, Guns, Girls
7. Collect Call
8. Empty
9. Gimme Sympathy
10. Sick Muse
11. Dead Disco
12. Blindness
13. Stadium Love

Encore:
14. Monster Hospital
15. Combat Baby (Acoustic)

Metric using Radiohead's cool screen technique

They’ll be playing Massey Hall tomorrow night and there should be tickets at the door. They’ll also be in London, Ontario on Friday!