mythteller | Entries tagged with music

Do you have a song that, when you hear it, makes you stop and take notice of it? You'll be walking down the street, driving in your car, or riding the bus when you hear this song and it stirs something inside you. You feel every note, you know every word, and still the song is as fresh and new as it was the first time you heard it. You close your eyes, your mind clears instantly, and you get lots in its music.

I was driving to work today and two of these songs came on one after the other. If I had had the opportunity, I might've pulled over to be able to listen to them.

Thunderstruck -- AC/DC: There's something about how this song builds that gets my full attention every time. I crank the volume and get lost in it.

Still haven't found what I'm looking for -- U2: similar to Thunderstruck, the build-up of this song draws me in. I'm a child of the 80's; go figure.

Canned Goods -- Greg Brown: specifically from his Live One album. It reminds me of spending summers as a kid at my great aunt's cottage.

Chet Baker's Unsung Swan Song -- David Wilcox (the American one): I've known of Chet Baker, but I've never gone out of my way to hear his music. This song makes me want to discover Bakers' music.

Nighthawks at the Diner -- Tom Waits: the whole album is an experience, but the story of Big Joe and Phantom 309 gets me every time.

What are your five perfect songs? These pieces of music should be a few years old (it's too early to say how new music will affect you a few years from now) and state why you think they strike such a chord in you.

While everyone else was out seeing Madonna last night,

sarahcarotte and I went to see the Bachman-Cummings Songbook Tour (both members of Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who). The show was at Theatre St-Denis, which is a good place to see any kind of show (We caught the BNL Christmas show last November with

mouseme, Gabbo, and

twilightbunny).

I hadn't been to see a good classic rock show in quite a few years, so it was great fun. It was also one of those times when I felt very YOUNG compared to the other Guess Who fans around us.

But Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings were in fine form and good spirits, so the show was fun and the two musicians had an excellent rapport with the audience.

A few of weird things happened that night:

1. Two people came up to me and asked me if I was Gary Bachman (Randy Bachman's brother). I have no idea what Gary Bachman looks like, so I'm not sure there's a resemblance.

2. During a bathroom break, some guy was saying that Jacques Parizeau (the ex-premier) was sitting in the balcony watching the show. During one of the encores, Bachman and Cummings paraded a Canadian flag out onto the stage. I wonder if the people around Parizeau hesitated to cheer or not.

3. When

sarahcarotte and I left the theatre and were walking up to the car (on St. Denis, above Ontario), we were witness to an accident that happened about 5 feet from where we were standing: a taxi ran the red light and struck a cyclist. The cyclist flew one way, the bike flew another way, and he landed on his collarbone. He insisted he was okay and didn't want us to call 911, but I managed to flag down a police cruiser who called for an ambulance. We stuck around to make sure the guy was okay, but from what the ambulance guys were saying, he probably did break his collarbone. Yikes. Cyclists: wear your helmets (he wasn't wearing a helmet)!

Pretty exciting for a Wednesday night!

Link of the Day: Firefly Series Bloopers

Don't forget the charity screening of Serenity tonight at Concordia (doors open at 7pm)!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Ain't Seen Nothing Yet -- The Guess Who

Question: does anyone know of a place in Montreal where they would sell a Utilikilt (www.utilikilt.com)? I have decided that my LARP character (a monk name Ruffino) would definitely wear a kilt and I'm looking for a time-efficient way of getting one.

In searching for this information, I found this fake ad for utilikilt.com (Utilikilt: They Work). Amusing.

Thanks to everyone for voting on the recommended TMBG album. I will be visiting my local record shop to purchase the Flood album.

Of course, when I visit the record shop, I can never leave with just one album. These other albums are also on my list:

Moxy Fruvous: Bargainville
Waterboys: Fisherman's Blues extended
Waterboys: Karma to Burn
Greg Brown: Live at the Black Sheep
Greg Brown: The Live One
Bruce Springsteen: We Shall Overcome (The Seger Sessions)
Fun with Bing & Louis (1949-1951)
Billy Idol: VH1 Storytellers

I have recently decided that I must explore the musical experience known as They Might Be Giants.

Does anyone have a suggestion on which of their albums would be a good place for me to start this exploration?

Current Mood: curious

I really really really missed a good show. Invisible put on a show last week and I heard it was great, but now I have an inkling to how good it actually was because Scott has MP3s from the show on his site. Go have a listen.

If you don't know the Invisible story, it's a bunch of guys who got together a little over 1.5 years ago and said "We should form a band", although none of them could play instruments. Despite that, they each picked an instrument, taught themselves how to play, and rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed.

I saw them for the first time about 6 months ago. It was a raw, primal performance, but quite impressive when you considered how and when they got started. The biggest problem was cohesiveness: it sounded more like a bunch of guys playing instruments than a band playing together

From what I can hear now, they've fixed that lack-of-cohesiveness; the band has pulled together and produced a single sound. And it rocks.

Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: Black Plane -- Invisible

Most people know that I'm a huge BNL fan. I've seen them in concert a few times, have all of their albums, and I voted NDP, but I still don't have 1,000,000 dollars (working on it).

I went to their website today and found a page with a list of vids that the band has taken over the years. The hockey vids were amusing, but the vid that made me laugh the most was their tribute to the Tragically Hip.

Take note of what happens while they praise Gordon Downie. I have to stop watching it at work because my cow-orkers are looking at me funny.

Current Mood: dorky

Without cheating (ie, doing geekstuff to figure out who this is), can you name this ex-Rockstar? Hint: he was a member of a hard-rockin' hairband in the 80's, enjoyed some success as a solo artist, but could never go back to his original band.

All I can say is, the years have not been kind.

I'll post the answer in the comments in day or so.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Hairband tunes

In the last three days,

sarahcarotte and I have gone to see two great Canadian musicians/bands: Jann Arden and Barenaked Ladies.

(Oooh... Wouldn't Jann Arden and Barenaked Ladies be a great show! I'd pay a hefty fee to see Jann and Steve Page sing a duet).

Jann played the Olympia theatre on Saturday night and, because it was the last night of their 3 month tour, I think we got to see a unique show. For someone who sings such heart-wrenching, depressing songs, Jann is really funny on stage.

To get an idea of what it's like seeing Jann Arden in concert, I would recommend Jann Arden Live with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. You get a great sampling of her music and her live presence.

And then last night, we went to see Barenaked Ladies: The Christmas Show. I had heard of this show, but I'd never seen it myself. This was my second BNL concert, and again, very NOT disappointed. I'm not sure Theatre St. Denis was the best venue for a show like this (the Spectrum or Metropolis would've been better), but it didn't take away from the fun of the evening.

After the bizarre opening act (a rapping duo called $1.65), about 20 kids from Laval Elementary school, dressed in white pants and black shirts, filed out and sang Christmas songs, at first alone and then as backup singers to BNL. Amazing!

Of course, BNL did cover many of their hits, but they included their own versions of the popular holiday music. There wasn't as much improv or hijinks as I've seen in other shows they've done, but it was still fantastic.

And they did three encores, which I don't get to see very often.

After the show, we headed out to La Distillerie for some Mason Jar Sangria and then headed home.

If you're new to BNL, I would recommend their live album Rock Spectacle (enhanced CD).

My thanks to

mousme who accepted to join us at the last minute! We loved having you and I hope you enjoyed the evening!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: BNL -- Lovers in a Dangerous Time

Note: I didn't get a huge response to this on my blog, so let's see what happens here.

We were checking out a new bar last Thursday night (owned by a friend of mine who plays Domaine) called La Distillerie (corner Ontario and Sanguinet). They have a few good beers on tap and make cocktails with fresh fruit. Yummers!

A song came on over the conversation that mystified a few of us for a few moments. I maintained it had to be Boy George while others thought it was George Michael.

In the end, I was disturbed to realized that my ears were sensitive to Boy's particular type of warbling. Which led to these questions:

1. What was the first piece of music that you were given and what format was it in (tape, 45rpm, 33rpm, 78rpm, CD)?
2. What was the first piece of music that you bought and what format was it in?

My first 45rpms that I owned were as follows:

Illusion by Imagination I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jet and the Blackhearts
Hurts So Good by John Cougar Mellencamp
Jenny 867-5309 by Tommy Tutone

And the first 33rpm LP that I ever bought with my own money was (God, this is embarrassing) Physical by Olivia Newton John

So? Are you ready to 'fess up?

Current Mood: sick
Current Music: Queen: Highlander Soundtrack