I’ve been accused of being a music snob, but isn’t everyone? Everyone judges music based on style and image without hearing it to some degree.

It may not be a popular or terribly deep genre but seeing third wave ska in concert is always a lot of fun.

Whose house?

Why do bootleggers insist on using FLAC format? If they’re not getting it directly off the soundboard, the quality isn’t going to be that great. A lossless format won’t make a difference.

Jeff Schroeder is the new guitarist for the Smashing Pumpkins. Honestly, I’d rather hear new material from his old band (California dream-pop/shoegaze greats, The Lassie Foundation) than his new one. An even bigger surprise is Corgan’s choice for the new bass player (google Halo Friendlies)

It’s amazing how much good headphones can change the sound of music for the better.

Run’s House.

Post-Rock is a genre that’s fairly easy to play poorly but very tough to perfect.

Yes, A Special Christmas Box is funnier than Lazy Sunday. It’s disappointing that there are hundreds of ripoffs on YouTube and I can’t seem to find the original versin of Lazy Sunday to link to. ** Warning: The link above contains mature but hilarious subject matter. **

Remember when emo could refer to good music (see Sunny Day Real Estate).

I hate it when bands exclusively use myspace and don’t maintain their own precense on the web. MySpace symbolizes everything that’s wrong with the Internet. It’s like someone thought Geocities was a great idea and wanted to make it easier for everyone to make horribly designed pages.

Have I mentioned how cool the guys I ride with are? Again, I need to note that this isn’t compiled because of them, because they are great.  What great guys.

After a day in the salt mines, everyone is excited to get home.  The return trip isn’t nearly as difficult.  With my coworkers, we solve the worlds problems, make fun of the amazing snake car which we followed in to work earlier that day or we discuss the worst thing of all… work. What we should be doing is “getting the party started quickly… right”?!

The traffic is just as bad, the weather still sucky but this batch of songs will make sure none of that even matters.

Again, it is necessary to note that this is my list and my current batch of musical ornaments.  I know there are tonnes of songs in the pantheon of music which would work on this list, but for this time right now, these made the list.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Servo : As soon as you get in the car, look over to your riders and ask if they are ready to go home.  They’ll be annoyed and say of course.  If you do it in time to the start of this song, the effect will be genius.  There’s no way I could pull that off.

The Minders – 357 : A driving song if I’ve ever heard one.  A catchy hook, drenched in tonnes of effects with a constant beat and distant lyrics.  Whoosh.

Jon Rae & The River – Best of My Time : Remember on the drive in, that one guy didn’t really get into any of the songs and he was quiet when you said you hated modern country music? Well, he probably won’t like this either, but there is a twang here.  Plus it’s fitting: ” Well some of these folks don’t undestand, what a hard days work does to this old man…” Graphic Design is tough work, people.

I’m From Barcelona – We’re From Barcelona : If you’ve ever wanted to sway back and forth and clap to a song with your new commuting friends, this will do it.  You can’t help but bop around.  It’s all about brightening the day here and IFB works like a charm.

The Go Team – Ladyflash : In the middle of traffic, it is often very easy to get frustrated.  Thus, I’ve neglected any music which might enflame these raging on the road senses and I’m going to push for some upbeat dancey music.  Believe me, if some songs came on, I would go nuts and drive over all those damn little cars with my huge ass truck and they’d all deserve it and no judge would prosecute and if he did, I’d drive over… um, see?

LCD Soundsystem – Jump Into The Fire : Have you detected a pattern here? I’m trying to blow the roof off this here joint, yo.

Ratatat – Nostrand : Building. Building. Building. SMACK! I’d make a fool of myself if I played this song because as soon as it hits, I have to do somekind of white-guy arm/hand wave which looks like I just tried to push the button which made the awesome happen.  I don’t care.

Germans – Pogos Abenteuer : Hopefully the traffic has let up a bit and you can get some speed going.  This track will make any day better, plus the beginning starts really quiet so you’ll confuse everyone.  You can’t help but be reminded of some awesome 8-bit game from your youth!

GirlTalk – The entire Night Ripper album : No, I’m not giving up or getting lazy, this is really the best way to finish off the drive.  Believe me, if the people you’re riding with don’t like this, drop them off where ever you are.  Make them walk home. Seriously.  Ok, don’t but give them a good hard stare and tell them to change their ways.

Welcome Home.

My two coworkers are pretty cool and we generally have a lot to talk about, but a commute with other people can be uncomfortable and even awkward.  Strange silences mixed with repetitive talk about the weather and how weird traffic is, can get very old.

Thank goodness there’s a radio or CD player.  Of course these distractions can bring up some more questions: What should you play? What type of music do these people like? How much compromise should I give? I mean, it is MY car.

I’ve compiled a play list which runs just under 60 minutes which should work out really well for the drive into work.  This play list is centered around my musical tastes and obsessions at the moment and some are standard indie fare. If you don’t like the songs I’ve chosen, too bad.  Granted, you can substitute most for similiar songs, but seriously… you shouldn’t have to.  Assuming your colleagues aren’t as musically savvy as you are, you can educate while they learn. Please Note: This is the Indie Rock version.  You’ll be able to gauge the success or need for a different genre if you get a poor response.

A soundtrack for the way to work (The Indie Rock Version)

Nico – These Days : A great lead off song.  Soft and lilting with a hint of interesting weirdness.  They’ve probably heard this song somewhere but can’t put their finger on it.

The Velvet Underground – Sweet Jane : Another build up song.  It has a great groove and gets every one’s spirits up. Plus, if there is some knowledge in the car, you’ve proven your knowledge of indie history while not alienating the n00bs.

The Shins – Know Your Onion : Everyone loves The Shins now.  This track from their first album as The Shins shows you’ve known them before Natalie Portman told you too, or you at least listened to her. (Modest Mouse could be added here as well, as they are getting very popular these days, or so I’ve been told)

Band of Horses – The Great Salt Lake : I’m pretty obsessed with BoH right now, so I just wanted to hear this song.  It’s a good morning song, plus it’s hard to understand what the song is about.  There might just be a conversation in there somewhere.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Oregon Girl :  “Wow, this songs pretty good.  Who is this” “Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin” “You sure do listen to some crazy bands….  Can you burn this for me?”

The Islands – Swans (Life After Death) : Weird and wonderful, but pleasant enough for even the most horrible morning person.  It’s also over nine minutes long with a crazy classic rock guitar break at the end.  This will be a very telling song as to the preferences of your riders.

The Arcade Fire – No Cars Go : Everyone loves The Arcade Fire now, plus it’s CanCon.  Although this track is on their latest album, Neon Bible, it first appeared on their EP.  Is it history if it’s only a few years old?  Either way it’s inviting for rock radio listeners but also holds a tiny sliver of indie cache.

The Decemberists – 16 Military Wives : Now we’re building up for the horror that is the work day.  Plus, Colin Meloy’s voice and speech impediment will at least make a few people laugh.

Deerhoof – +81 : Ok, you’re almost at work. It’s time to get a bit more strange.  You need to keep your mystique a bit, right? Deerhoof. Awesome. (The Flaming Lips could work here if you don’t want to freak them out too much.)

Well, that’s it… these guys either won’t talk to you or can’t wait for the ride home.  If they say “Do you have any hip-hop, country or classic rock?” tell them to wait a couple weeks.

Next week however, we gotta get you guys home!!

1. Matthew Sweet – Sick of Myself: Why not start it off with a song that doesn’t end? The riff is three simple chords but it’s catchy.

2. Refreshments – Banditos: I love the story in the song. Who can say no to a Bonnie & Clyde-esque heist story?

3. Bran Van 3000 – Drinking In LA: First Canadian content, I’m disappointed that they never reveal what Todd’s favourite cheese was.

4. Odds – Someone Who’s Cool: It really was the suit that got me the gig, just waiting for the tear to get me the girl.

5. Rentals – Friends With P: I thought about using El Scorcho by Weezer (possibly the best song they ever recorded), but after their reappearance, I think everyone wants to forget about Weezer.

6. Mighty, Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get: Third Wave Ska, like Icarus, tried to do too much too fast. Still a fun genre to witness in concert.

7. Age Of Electric – I Don’t Mind: Not as popular as Remote Control but lighter and poppier. You’ve got to love those “Whoo Hoo Hoo”‘s.

8. Butthole Surfers – Pepper: “Look at me I’m a surfer”

9. Kish – I Rhyme The World In 80 Days: One of the few memorable Canadian rap songs from the early 90′s that wasn’t from Maestro Fresh Wes. Thankfully, he didn’t try to make a Snow-like comback.

10. Fountains of Wayne – Radiation Vibe: I always liked this song. Fountains of Wayne could write a great pop hook. Too bad they’ll always be remembered as liking Stacy’s Mom.

Other songs that didn’t quite make the cut:

Spacehog – In The Meantime
Gob – Soda
Wide Mouth Mason – My Old Self
Better Than Ezra – Good
Watchmen – Zoom
Rancid – Time Bomb

Early 90′s Contemporary Christian Music: This is a bit of a nostalgic piece for me. Until my teen years, I wasn’t allowed to listen to anything else. Michael W. Smith, Petra, DC Talk, Newsboys, it all brings me back to a simpler time. I’m not going to pretend this is good music. The lyrics are cheezy and the music wasn’t much better. But there’s something cathardic about listening to it everyonce in a while. Sometimes you just have to rock out to Beyond Belief.

Kim Mitchell: Sometimes you just have to blast “Go For a Soda”. that’s one song you just can’t get loud enough.

Public Enemy: Well, they were one of the quintessential rap groups but for a guy who grew up in a middle class, very caucasion rural area that has absolutely nothing in common with an oppressed, urban, ghetto, African-American community, it definitely qualifies. How should I relate to something that has no relation to what I’ve experienced in life? 9-1-1 is a joke doesn’t really reflect what I’ve experienced or seen.

Barenaked Ladies: Although they’re independent now, they epitomized Canadian pop for a few years. I’m still a sucker for a good pop song.

We’re going to turn this week’s audible article over to a fan of the magazine. Well, maybe not a fan per say, but a reader at least. Actually, I’m not sure that he’s even read SilentTalkie, but he was aware of its existence (he didn’t look completely confused when I asked him if I could publish his contribution here).

A few months ago, fellow editor Dave Duncan (not to be confused with the St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach or the Canadian fantasy author of the same name) and myself had a bit of a disagreement. He argued that Blown Wide Open was a better song than That Song. In case you don’t remember your late 90′s Canadian prog-rock, both songs were radio hits for the Ian Thornley (of Thornley)-led Big Wreck. Anyways, like most of our disagreements, it was petty, spite-filled and not all that informed. It seems neither of us have actually heard much of the band beyond these two tracks (apparently, they had a second album, who knew?). So we turned it over to none other than Logan Grant, professed fan, recreational guitar shredder and Hungry Hungry Hippos enthusiast.

Bear in mind, this question was posed to him, not which was the band’s best song (he’ll argue that it was The Oaf, I’m hoping that in posting this he’ll eventually write an article about it.), but which was the better of the two. So without further ado, I give you his response.

There is no easy answer to your quandry I’m afraid. Both songs are classic BW. On a commercial level, I’m quite sure “That Song” was the bigger hit of the two. It’s got a sweet hook, it’s a great sing-a-long tune, it’s heavy, dirty and yet a wee bit pop.

“Blown Wide Open” on the other hand also has that memorable riff, but in many ways is a much more stripped down song, the music is rich, darker and has lots of dynamics.

So, to come to some sort of final conclusion, I’m gonna judge by the live performances of each that I’ve heard many a time.

“That Song” will get a crowd jumping after the very first chord – there’s no mistaking it. People will literally ‘scream at the top of their lungs’ throughout. It gets the adrenaline pumping fast and keeps you on that high until the very end. he band always seemed to have fun with it – even in the reincarnation as Thornley. It’s definitely a fan/band favorite. Great, great song.

“Blown Wide Open” is a much different animal. It’s treated with an lot of reverence by both the band and the crowd. Once again, people know what’s in store after the first note is played, but with a lot of expectation. It’s one of those songs that when everything clicks live, can put you in a very particular mood. It captivates people. Looking around at the crowd after hearing it played and you can see that it’s had a real impact. I would say that Ian goes new places with that song when he plays it live, more than any other BW tune. He sometimes seems to get lost in it.

Why: This was a really tough decision, I love both songs. But in the end, I have to vote for the song that says more with less. BWO isn’t all that complicated a tune technically, but it’s so effective in it’s simplicity and leaves room to visit uncharted territory in a live setting.

There you have it…my take.

Cheers,

Logan

Sorry if this is a bit of a throw away article. I’m still reeling a little bit from the NHL trade deadline today. It’s always tough when your team trades its heart and soul for a couple prospects. Instead of the well thought out article outlining the intricacies of old-school emo-core, I’m going to bring you my checklist to a great concert.

1) The Hits – This should be obvious. 95% of people are there to hear what they know and what they know are the hits. I know that the artist may have over-exposure issues and even insecurities about resorting to a cheezy three chord song that they wrote five years ago, but that’s what most people want to hear. It can be left until the encore but it should be represented.

2) Change it up a bit – I don’t want to hear the songs exactly as they sound on the album. I want to hear that the band has a little bit of improvisational talent. I’m not asking for a 2 hour jam (I can’t stand the Dave Matthews Band), just an alternate intro or bridge. Even a medley would placate me.

3) The Obligatory Cover or Two – Who doesn’t enjoy a good cover? There are rules to choosing a song. The audience has to recognize it, it can’t be over-exposed, unless you’re changing genres or doing it comically and it should be at least slightly re-imagined.

4) Audience Participation – The show is so much more enjoyable when there’s some interaction. We’re going to sing-a-long anyways. Make it look like you care. It’s not that hard.

5) The Rarity – There are the 5% or so of the attendees that follow your music religiously. These guys have paid $200 on Ebay for your pre-band demoes and know the lyrics to your new songs before you’ve even written them. Throw them a bone. Play something that they’re going to appreciate. You don’t have to use the ultra-rare B-side from your Japanese only release, but play a song from a couple albums back that wasn’t a big hit. And change it up from time to time. Some people will see three or four shows on your tour. Give them something new each night.

6) The Pit – This pertains only to certain types on concerts. If you’re at the punk show, we’re in the mosh pit. This means no 12 year-old girls. You’re going to get hurt and I don’t want to spend half the show picking you up and protecting you from the mob. If you’re five rows back from the stage in the middle, you’re going to be right in the middle of it. Oh yeah, to the 15 year-old guy, keep your shirt on. That’s just gross. If you’re at the hardcore show, the same applies but make way for the circle pit. Just stay out of their way if you don’t want to join in. Everyone enjoys it more that way. Oh yeah, make sure you tie your shoes tightly, I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

I grew up in a rural area. There was no record store within 50 km and the Internet had yet to push beyond the gopher protocol and the world of the BBS. Procuring new sounds took effort, time and happened once a month (if I was lucky). As a result, I spent a lot more time with each album. I memorized the lyrics to all the songs, recognized the nuances that appeared with time and heard the slight imperfections that get missed by summary listens. Weezer’s Blue Album, Poor Old Lu’s A Picture of The Eighth Wonder, Ghoti Hook’s Sumo Surprise, MxPx’s Teenage Politics and Life In General were part of the soundtrack to my youth. To this day, I can still recite the track list and nearly all the lyrics by heart. Conversely, I don’t think that I can do this with anything that I’ve purchased in the last 3 or 4 years. If you look at my top 10 list of favourite albums, most of them come from the mid-90′s. Is it the over-abundance of quality music? The ease of aquisition? My lack of self-control? Have I developed an A.D.D. attitude towards music?

It’s not that I don’t like new music. I’m not one of those people still mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, Brad Nowell or Cliff Burton. Most of my favourite shows and albums from last year were from new bands or bands I hadn’t listened to before. (Mute Math, Anathallo, Islands, etc.) But even with these albums, the songs sound tired and dated with a couple months of occassional listening. Have I become so cynical that I can’t be completely and continually moved by an album again? I’m not sure about that. It’s been said that the music you listen to in your teens and early 20′s stays your favourite throughout the rest of your life. While I wouldn’t be too disappointed with this, I still like those discs, it’s still a little discouraging if it’s true. Come back in 5 years and I could be sitting in a corner, clutching a CD and reminiscing about the time when Weezer was good.

But this story doesn’t start there. Instead, it starts in the middle of my first term of University. A couple of guys on my floor were trying to start a band. They had the singer/songwriter/lead guitarist, a drummer with a kit and a rhythm guitarist that had jammed together a few times but they could never find a bass player to play longer than one session. This is where I step in. One night while they were about to jam, they asked me to fill in on bass and apparently wouldn’t take “I don’t know how” for an answer. Since no one really had the same influences or the ability to play much of anything, the decision was made to write a few of our own songs. And because of that lack of ability, the songs started off as generic three chord ditties that could pass for pop-punk before it got all whiny and emo-like. Actually I didn’t mind that because I was listening to a lot of it at the time. Anyways, we kept on jamming for a couple months and ended up with 9 songs. The term culminated with a couple of performances at dorm-sponsored talent shows (although we still had an obvious lack of talent and cohesiveness, especially on the bass end). We also rented a 4 track mixer and put to tape what we had spent so little time crafting. Here’s where I reveal my age; this was before the time when anyone with a computer could make a mediocre recording. We spent a couple days laying down some simple tracks and making rudimentary mixes, and given our lack of talent, lack of practice time, lack of cohesiveness and lack of technology, “Trust Me” didn’t turn out too badly.

Unfortunately, this is the part where our Rock & Roll dreams die. Thanks to the University of Waterloo’s co-op program, all four of us would never be at the University at the same time again. As a result of this (mixed with the general apathy towards practicing and no desire to book shows), the band would never reach mediocrity.

The summer of that year brought about our first real show. Our drummer knew about a Christian Youth Event being planned in Ajax and passed our tape on to the promoter. For some reason, he listened to it and still wanted us to play. so in typical YourFace fashion, we practised once the weekend before (the first time we’d played together since December) and loaded up the Beretta with 5 people, a drum kit, a couple guitars and amps and headed out on the 401. When we got to show, everything was a little disorganized, partly because it was supposed to be outdoors and it rained off and on, and partly because we had no idea what we were doing and didn’t know our material very well. Anyways, we got through our set and had fun. Thankfully, the sound board recording of that day has never been made public. I’ve been told it exists but have never heard nor do I know the whereabouts of it.

The fall brought the lead singer and guitarist back to school while I toiled away in a different city. For the next 4 months, we played together almost every weekend but the rhythm guitarist dropped out almost immediately, leaving us as a three piece. We kept writing new material with more chords and no remnants of anything that could be considered punk rock. The drummer had a friend who was studying sound engineering and had free studio time that was promised to us. So after practising new material once a week for two months, we headed into an actual studio. Once again, we were ill-prepared for what was awaited us. For some reason, we thought that 6 hours of studio time would be more than enough for a band that still struggled with execution to record and mix 13 songs. I’m not sure how we did it but 13 songs did get put down. We were mixing down to the last second and much of it was done on the fly, but at the end of the day, we had a CD with 13 tracks. “Not Where We Should Be” was a huge success considering the lack of effort the band put into it. I think that we managed to sell 40 copies to people that we knew and thankfully, not everyone hated it.

From here, distractions set in and the band members went their separate ways for a while. 18 months later, we got to jamming again and set out with the goal of making a recording that we could be proud of. We enlisted the help of the engineer from our previous disc (bringing on another friend of the drummer as the producer), and gave ourselves a whole weekend to put together another shot at immortality. Unfortunately, we were plauged by unreadiness, a lack of cohesiveness and over-ambitiousness (I sense a theme). Anyway, we managed to get the music down for all the songs but it still wasn’t much to be proud of. We drifted apart for a while but the producer kept working, using his Pro-Tools skills to try and take our poor effort and turn it into something good. A year later, we re-visited those sessions and put down the vocals. After four months of post-production, we were handed a CD of “Best 2 Out Of 3″. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the producer, it was listenable but not the respectable recording we were looking for, but to our ears… we enjoy it. So here we are with three albums and one “real” show after four years.

Don’t worry, we’re finally nearing the end of this drawn-out tale. As we approached graduation (at least one of us approached graduation), we came up with the idea to play one final show as a last hurrah, even though we didn’t really have any fans and hadn’t played together on consecutive days in over three years. We signed up in an online contest to play a show in Mississauga, and thanks to the votes of 15 of our closest friends, we manage to make the cut. The show was scheduled to take place at the end of June with Hulk Hogan MC’ing and K-Os headlining. Two weeks before the show, I got a call that Hulk Hogan had cancelled for personal reasons and the show was off.  However, they offered us a slot at a smaller show a week later. Sadly, I was already scheduled to move to Winnipeg the day before the new show, so I couldn’t participate. I guess I should be thankful, the band again practised sparingly the weekend before the show and attempted to play without really knowing the material (especially since a rhythm guitarist and a bass player were brought in and didn’t know the songs). After listening to the sound board recording from that show, I’m a little grateful not to have been a part of that.

This story does skip a few parts… the fan letter from Sweden, the near distribution deal with a .com startup, the time we got played on the campus radio, as well as our “Creep” (well, it would be comparable to Creep if we didn’t keep re-recording it) and “The Slurpee Song”. Here we are four years into the future and I wouldn’t count out a reunion show quite yet, but the lead singer has disappeared and the drummer has moved to Europe. Regardless, I still hold a grudge against Hulk Hogan for causing me to miss the closure to 5 years of fun.