vintage

I’ve been following my blog stats quite religiously lately, and they have consistently been telling me this bewildering piece of information:

My top search engine hit is for pony da look.

That’s right. People searching for this band are finding my site; I believe I’ve only mentioned them once, in a short paragraph about how I wasn’t too sad about missing their set. However, 17 people have come here in their search for them. What a head-scratcher! Well … welcome.

Some of my other top hits (these ones are five hits and below; this gap is even more perplexing) are calexico, matchstick zune (that would be this post), and sam roberts love at the end of the world. These ones make a lot more sense.

Well, here I go tagging this entry with Pony Da Look too, just to see if it boosts my hit count even more. Maybe I should actually review their record … but that would only make all the fans go away again.

More folk festival reviews coming up!

In case you haven’t been keeping up lately (shame!), I ran a mini-contest, for nothing but bragging rights, involving being able to recognize the birth names of popular musicians who are better known by their stage names. You can check out the original post right here.

Major props go to the following:

Natalia takes first place with a rip-roarin’ eleven (nice one!).
Adam and Barbara tie for second place with a good solid eight correct answers.

Nice work, everybody! And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for:

The list revealed!

1. John Baldwin
   John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin
    

2. Farrokh Bulsara
   Freddie Mercury, Queen
    

3. Robert Cummings
   Rob Zombie
    

4. Reginald Dwight
   Elton John
    

5. Ernest Evans
   Chubby Checker
    

6. Jacob Gershowitz
   George Gershwin
    

7. Frances Ethel Gumm
   Judy Garland
    

8. Charles Hatcher
   Edwin Starr
    

9. Steveland Hardaway Judkins
   Stevie Wonder
    

10. Riley B. King
    B.B. King
     

11. Donovan Philips Leitch
    Donovan
     

12. Declan Patrick MacManus
    Elvis Costello
     

13. James Joseph McGuinn III
    Roger McGuinn
     

14. Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien
    Dusty Springfield
     

15. Karen Lee Orzolek
    Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
     

16. Ronald Bedford Scott
    Bon Scott, AC/DC
     

17. Richard Starkey
    Ringo Starr
     

18. Sylvester Stewart
    Sly Stone
     

19. Gary Lee Weinrib
    Geddy Lee, Rush
     

20. Robert Allen Zimmerman
    Bob Dylan

Point of note: everyone who entered got Bob Dylan. Surprise. Somehow, though, one of those people missed Ringo Starr! The names in green are ones that stumped everybody. Hey, now you can impress your friends.

The four days are over and I have the most killer tan. This would probably be more useful if I wasn’t brown to begin with, but you know how it is.

Thursday

Things got rolling with the Master Musicians of Jajouka, at best an unconventional way to start the festival. The group hails from northern Morocco and have collaborated with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Maceo Parker. As revered as they are, I still couldn’t get into what they were doing; rather cacophonous and repetitive, I guess they just weren’t my bag.

Following them, however, were Canadian darlings The Weakerthans, who were just delightful. Somehow this was my first time experiencing their joyful live performance, and it did not disappoint; soft-spoken and gracious, John K. Samson and his crew delivered a bucketload of well-crafted songs that fit perfectly with the sunny weather. Their set felt far too short. I’m definitely seeing them again.

Third up was clever and quirky Aimee Mann. Shamefully, the only experiences I’ve had with her music are “Humpty Dumpty” and “It’s Not Safe,” the latter with Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford from Squeeze. I know. So I was quite taken by surprise when I found out just how much I enjoyed her stuff. Her between-song banter was hilarious and delivered in a completely deadpan manner (which just made it so much better). Her performance was really enjoyable - she has a great voice and her easygoing manner made everyone relax and get into it. I am definitely looking forward to seeing her again in about a month when she opens for Squeeze in Toronto (!!).

Sam Roberts closed the night out with some seriously happy rock & roll, throwing in old favourites like “Brother Down” and “Hard Road” alongside some choice tunes from Love at the End of the World, including the title track, “Lions of the Kalahari” and “Detroit ‘67″. It got a little jammy towards the end, but the energy never failed; Roberts and his band blasted the singing and dancing crowd with some joyful rock and things ended Thursday night on a beautifully high note. Man, I love Sam Roberts.

Friday

Off to a hollerin’, boot-stompin’, banjo-pickin’ start with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a young African-American string band formed in North Carolina and working under the tutelage of Joe Thompson. They were an excellent way to kick off the afternoon, playing a whole lot of rollicking, uptempo string band tunes and getting everybody’s toes tapping early on. Some great jug playing was featured, too (what a treat!). These guys were a real party, and I purchased their CD from the official festival record tent. Definitely a favourite of my musical discoveries from the festival.

I took off and missed the blues harmonica stylings of Charlie Musselwhite to run to the Twilight Stage instead, taking in a set by indie favourites Great Lake Swimmers. It was just what I had hoped for - quiet and beautifully intricate songs floating over the crowd flopped in the grass in front of the stage, with the sunset blazing behind us. Tony Dekker’s voice is ethereal at times, and other times just country enough. I hope to have a few more opportunities to see them in Toronto in the coming years; they were fabulous and quite a lovely treat on a beautiful night.

I booked the heck back to the mainstage afterwards; next up were Vancouver’s darlings the Be Good Tanyas, who I have been dying to see for a few years now. Their delicious blend of folk, country and bluegrass gives them a unique sound that lends itself perfectly to the Calgary folk festival. They didn’t play my favourite song of theirs (”The Littlest Birds,” from 2001’s Blue Horse), but they did treat us to a very energetic “Reuben”, as well as a host of other favourites from their three records, including “Human Thing”. Lead vocalist Frazey Ford has one of the most interesting voices I’ve heard in a while, and all three of them sing beautifully, making every song a study in lush vocal harmony. I can’t wait for them to release something else - I really love this group and I bet you would too.

After that, oh, what a treat - Andrew Bird, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, whistler extraordinaire. I don’t really know how to describe him other than “a wonder”. Bird layers track after track of violin, voice and otherworldly whistling until he sounds like an entire orchestra, and his songs are complex and beautiful. Seeing him live is a totally different experience and one that I am completely willing to repeat. What a guy.

Calexico took the stage next, and boy was I really in for a surprise. I’ve only ever heard one Calexico song, and it was on a mix CD I got in a trade called The Country Hour. Thus, I was expecting a country band. However, Calexico - named for the city on the border between California and Mexico, counterpart of Mexicali - takes much of its influence from mariachi bands and other sounds from Mexico and the American southwest. Their horn section is absolutely fantastic, and vocalist Joey Burns’ style - gritty and wistful - conjures images of campfires in the desert at sunset. And, in fact, during their set the sun was going down; perfect imagery for a really enjoyable set.

And finally, the headliner: Kingston (Ontario, not Jamaica)’s Bedouin Soundclash. They were energetic and fun for the first half, but by the end I was more than ready for them to get offstage. I did have a good time to start off, though - they were really pumping up the crowd, playing reggae-heavy danceable tunes for all the whippersnappers up front, and at one point offering up a tribute to Joe Strummer of the Clash. However, reggae beats get repetitive after a while, and the Soundclash did little to offer any variety; a somewhat shorter set would probably have been a better idea, and I was sick of them by the end. Still, a pretty fun way to end the Friday.

More stuff to come, including a series of excellent Saturday and Sunday workshop sessions. In the meantime, Folk Festival Mini-Sampler, Pt. 1!

The Weakerthans - Civil Twilight
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Starry Crown
Bedouin Soundclash - Living in Jungles
The Be Good Tanyas - Reuben

The Calgary Folk Music Festival starts this afternoon! Check out the website for more info, and follow my Twitter for updates. Reviews will follow the festival. Let’s get this party started!

More often than not, musicians invent their own names (or, in some cases, have them invented for them) - to sound cooler, to be easier to pronounce, to create a different persona. Whatever. In any case, there are piles and piles of popular musicians out there who aren’t using the names they were born with. Some of them are pretty obvious, some of them are shockers.

Here’s a list of 20. See which ones you can get - if you know any of them, drop me an email (rdewji AT yorku DOT ca) or leave a comment. I will reveal them all in a little while; you can see how you did and find out who the hell the rest of these people are!

I tried to pick pretty well-known musicians. Some of these are really obvious or well-known, others are totally obscure. Just remember: NO CHEATING! There are lists of these out there, but this is just for kicks.

Your list:

1. John Baldwin

2. Farrokh Bulsara
3. Robert Cummings
4. Reginald Dwight
5. Ernest Evans
6. Jacob Gershowitz
7. Frances Ethel Gumm
8. Charles Hatcher
9. Steveland Hardaway Judkins
10. Riley B. King
11. Donovan Philips Leitch
12. Declan Patrick MacManus
13. James Joseph McGuinn III
14. Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien
15. Karen Lee Orzolek
16. Ronald Bedford Scott
17. Richard Starkey
18. Sylvester Stewart
19. Gary Lee Weinrib
20. Robert Allen Zimmerman

July 22 - A handful in so far, the leader with eleven correct. A few of these are really stumping people. Keep goin’!

July 28 - I’m going to close this post soon. Thanks for your entries! If you’ve a hankerin’ to play, get your email in and I will soon post results and the answers. At least you can say you learned something.

July 16 marked Rush’s first American TV appearance in 33 years; they were guests on the Colbert Report, doing a brief interview and a performance of “Tom Sawyer”. Neil Peart gets in some zingers, and they all sign Colbert’s hand. All in a day’s work!

Watch the video here.

Stampede is over! I’m back now. Hopefully everything will be back on track here before too long - I apologise for my extended absences.

I’ve been meaning to do a post on this for a while: I recently filled out a survey geared towards Canadian music bloggers, and ended up getting picked to try out the Microsoft Zune, which just got launched in Canada about a month ago. I’ve had my Creative Zen MicroPhoto for quite some time (it has since been discontinued to make way for newer and flashier things, I expect) and figured it would take quite a lot to make me want to switch over.

Here’s what I’m thinkin’ so far.

The Good:

The Zune is really friggin’ tiny. Normally I would hate this, but it is a pretty cool, sleek-looking device, and makes my Zen look pretty elephantine in comparison. It is also touch-sensitive, but you can turn that on or off - kind of a nice choice, even though I can’t see myself ever not wanting the touch capability.

Zune also has an incredibly sharp and colour-rich display, which is a big bonus, particularly because it comes with video capabilities. The video thing is also a big plus for me - I didn’t think it would be, since I never really cared one or way or the other if I could watch videos on my personal device, but it’s nice to have it. I tried it out with the only video I could make work, Sloan’s “Flying High Again,” and it looks exceptionally good. The videos actually play on the screen lengthwise, so you turn the player sideways to view them. The volume control flips too - good on them for remembering to work that out.

I haven’t noticed anything wrong with sound quality, and the player itself seems pretty intuitive. The menus look nice and streamlined, and I like that the display stays visible even when you lock the player so you don’t have to keep unlocking to see it (a definite advantage over the Zen).

The Bad:

The paint or finish or whatever it is on the front of the Zune, this grey-black textured stuff, scratches off incredibly easily. My player already looks old and battered, and that’s just from sitting around in my bag for the last week or two. Wear and tear I’m okay with, but there’s an unreasonable amount of it considering I just got it a couple of weeks ago. The screen seems much sturdier, though, and the matte silver finish on the back is strong as well.

Also, the software! What a pain in the rear end. I am starting to get used to it, but I wish it wasn’t so … confusing. The thing I liked quite a lot about the Creative software is it’s all folder-based and you can just select things you want to transfer. Bada bing. Unfortunately, with the Zune software you have to select folders you want to monitor for photos, videos, music or podcasts; then you go back into the main screen and wait for the software to recognize that there are media files in those folders, and then you drag and drop it onto the little Zune icon so that it transfers. Very inefficient and very annoying. I want easy transfers - probably not an unreasonable request, I think. Once you get the hang of it it is a little less irritating, but the Zen has a huge edge here.

Oh boy, and the earphone jack is in the bottom of the player. I am so used to it being in the top that this drives me crazy every time I try to plug them in. Not really a bad feature or anything, but I didn’t realise I was this set in my ways! I am still trying to get used to this!

All in all the Zune is a pretty good music player so far. I really like the video capability, actually - I didn’t think I would, but I really do. I wish it was bigger than 8GB, but that’s mostly because I want to have way more stuff on there than is probably practical anyway. It’s nice and small and sleek looking (watch out for the paint scratches, though), the sound quality is good, the display is great, and it’s pretty easy to figure out. At this point I’d say I am really liking it, although I’m still up in the air about which one I would ultimately choose. The Zen doesn’t have video, but it has a lot of other stuff going for it, and it is a pretty solid player (dropped it, gotten it wet, etc and it still works).

I will update some more about this later! If any of you have a Zune or a Zen and want to comment about it please do - and if you’re part of the Matchstick Zune program, like my buddy Matt over at i (heart) music, definitely drop me a line!

I will be back to tell tales of Yep Roc and Stampede sometime. Hope you all have a marvelous weekend.

Sorry about my continued absences. I am currently knee-deep in the 2008 Calgary Stampede, where I work as a guest services supervisor; it leaves little time for such frivolities as music blogging. But here I am on a bit of downtime ready to give you exciting things to read again. I know how excited you are, trust me.

The Polaris Music Prize shortlist was announced today! The final ten vying for the prize are:

Black Mountain, In the Future
Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling
Caribou, Andorra
Holy Fuck, LP
Kathleen Edwards, Asking for Flowers
Plants and Animals, Parc Avenue
Stars, In Our Bedroom After the War
Shad, The Old Prince
Two Hours Traffic, Little Jabs
The Weakerthans, Reunion Tour

Place your bets now!

—

Yesterday I also had the opportunity to see Sloan. Again. This time they played in Calgary at the Tequila Nightclub, not a place I would ever go to of my own accord. It used to be The Republik (which has since been resurrected a few blocks down the road), where Sloan played back in the day, interestingly enough.

I only got to see the last half of the show, which contained exactly one song from Parallel Play (lead-off track and single “Believe in Me,” which was a terrific live rocker). Old favourites in the set included “People of the Sky,” “Who Taught You To Live Like That?” and “Money City Maniacs.” The crowd was a beer-drinking Stampede party group but seemed to be really into the show, which was nice.

Many thanks go to Mike from the Sloan ‘entourage’ who helped me make it to the show after work in the first place. Working til 12.30 is not usually a situation conducive to going to see shows, but you know how it is … things always work out in the end.

By the way, some of you may remember me mentioning how Yep Roc had failed to send me my copy of Parallel Play at the time I wrote my review. Well, it finally came - on July 2. Three weeks and a day late! I will tell this story in full so you can experience the good times with me (ha, ha).

Have a good week, everybody!