vintage

Tom Waits interviews himself.

I imagine it needs no prequel nor commentary.

What news, my friends. Neil Young now has another interesting ‘accolade,’ if you can call it that, to add to his collection; a new species of trapdoor spider was christened this week in tribute as Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi. The spider was discovered by an East Carolina University scientist in Jefferson County, Alabama.

This rather odd naming follows in the footsteps of a recent naming of a species of beetle after the late Roy Orbison (Orectochilus orbisonorum).

Read the full article.

I swear, news gets weirder every day.

John Rutsey, the original drummer for the Canadian prog-rock band Rush, died May 11 from “complications due to diabetes”. Billboard reports some news services as saying the cause of death was a heart attack in his sleep.

Rutsey played on the band’s debut album (Rush, 1974). He was later replaced by the band’s current drummer, Neil Peart, who also took over the lyricist role.

Read the article.

Woo hoo!

The Calgary Folk Music Festival has been in existence for 29 years now, and every year it gets bigger, tickets sell out faster, and the lineup gets more varied. This year is no exception; the “folk” umbrella stretches, twists, morphs, and extends to accommodate an incredibly wide range of styles and artists. Some highlights from this year’s lineup include:

A Hawk and a Hacksaw (Alberquerque)
The Be Good Tanyas (Vancouver)
Bedouin Soundclash (Kingston)
Andrew Bird (Chicago)
Blue Rodeo (Toronto)
Basia Bulat (Toronto)
Calexico (Tucson, AZ)
Ani DiFranco (Buffalo)
Julie Doiron (Moncton)
Great Lake Swimmers (Toronto)
Aimee Mann (Richmond, VA)
Josh Ritter (Moscow, ID)
Sam Roberts (Montreal)
Torngat (Montreal)
The Weakerthans (Winnipeg)
Woodpigeon (Calgary)

You can check out the festival’s mainstage lineup by clicking here; the full lineup of festival performers, listed alphabetically, is available here.

I’ll be there all four days again; keep your eyes peeled for reviews and more fun!

Pitchfork Media recently reported that weird British kraut-electro-strange-band Stereolab have announced a North American tour for September and October. The tour is in support of their upcoming LP Chemical Chords, which will be released in mid-August (the 18th, to be precise, and a day later in the United States). Laetitia Sadier’s side project Monade will be supporting on at least part of the tour, with the opener for the first half still apparently undecided.

It looks like the only Canadian dates for Stereolab are, predictably, Montreal (October 7 @ Club Soda - probably Pop Montreal), Toronto (October 8 @ The Phoenix) and Vancouver (October 19 @ Commodore Ballroom). Get yer tickets early! These will probably draw great crowds. I definitely want to get my hands on a ticket for one of these, and if I’m in Montreal for the festival I may as well turn the “let’s see a really awesome act I should have checked out long ago at the Club Soda!” thing into a tradition. See some of you there, I hope.

Currently I am spinning the Hip’s 2006 LP World Container a lot. It is still good.