Sham Wizzle

Vince Shlomi of Sham-Wow fame was busted last month for giving a Miami hooker a beat down.

"According to an arrest affidavit, Shlomi met Sasha Harris, 26, at a Miami Beach nightclub on February 7 and subsequently retired with her to his $750 room at the lavish Setai hotel. Shlomi told cops he paid Harris about $1000 in cash after she "propositioned him for straight sex." Shlomi said that when he kissed Harris, she suddenly "bit his tongue and would not let go." Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue."

Wonder if he used one to mop up the bloody mess?
Too obvious?
It's Monday morning. What do you want from me?

****On a unrelated note: I just witnessed a Nazi Skinhead purchasing a Grande Non-fat Latte from a Starbucks down the street. I have seen the new face of hate crime.

Current Music Fixation - Northern Portrait

Lately I have been playing the most recent EP "Napoleon Sweetheart" by Denmark trio "Northern Portrait" almost every opportunity I can. Due to it's short length (4 songs totaling roughly 15 minutes of play) this EP is an easy choice for a quick listen on a short streetcar or subway trip.

Formed in Copenhagen only two years ago, the trio found itself gathering some buzz online via their MySpace page and started to field offers from major and Indie labels alike. Fronted by vocalist Stefan Larson, Northern Portrait draws many a comparison to Indie legends "The Smiths." Through Johnny Marr-like reverb soaked guitars, and almost eerie Morrissey-like vocals, I can not dismiss the comparison.

The opening track "I give you two seconds to entertain me" jangles and sways in perfect pop form and sets the tone for the rest of the EP in 3+ minutes of pop bliss. The title of the track itself almost sounds as if it were a lyric written and sang by the king of self doubt himself. Although comparisons between Morrissey and Larson are merited, Larson's delivery seems much more hope filled and optimistic. It almost plays out like what the Smiths would have sounded like if they figured everything out, put aside their dramatic views of the world, each other, and enjoyed life.


Congrats to all the winners.

(Edit*** Murphy read the blog and threatened to eat himself into a coma if I didn't make reference to the fact that this band was offered up on his recommendation. So Murph, there you have it.)

Concert Review - A.C. Newman

Last week I had the utmost pleasure of seeing A.C. Newman (of The New Pornographers) with opening band "Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele" at Lee's Palace.

The opening band although having the word "Magnificent" in their name were anything but. For starters, they played what seemed to be a 4 hour set (it was actually roughly an hour) The entire set list consisted of what sounded like the same exact song played over and over at various tempos. Murphy and I chalked it up to sounding on par with being trapped in a looped soundtrack to Adam Sandler's movie "50 First Dates"

Thankfully Dent May had to eventually make way for A.C. Newman to take the stage. Newman and his band of cohorts wasted no time in letting concert goers know why they purchased a ticket. From the get go they ripped into a high energy show that was equal parts his new album "Get Guilty" and his 2004 release "The Slow Wonder." A Canadian by birth (now residing in Brooklyn, New York) Newman shared some on stage banter with the crowd and had some pretty good one liners and self deprecating jokes as well.

Overall A.C. Newman in all his gingerly glory put on a terrific show. Great set list, clean sound, and tight musicianship made this a concert to remember. To make the night complete, Newman performed a stellar live version of "On The Table" as their closing song. With falsetto like vocals throughout the track and some fairly tricky piano work I feared that "On the Table" might be a little difficult for the band to pull off in a live setting. I was wrong. It was a superb live showing of one of my favourite Newman tracks. To add to the overall nights success, Murphy generously purchased the first piece of vinyl (Get Guilty) for my up and coming collection.

Next up - The Appleseed Cast @ The Horseshoe Tavern.

"Your Ad Here!"

Is anything sacred?

I just discovered to my dismay that my long time web source for all things music review related appears to have made the jump to monetize their site. Pitchforkmedia.com (now just pitchfork.com) made what looks to be a conscious decision to generate revenue streams via the mass sale of advertising space on their site.

After navigating through a painfully busy homepage, I recognized a trend throughout the site - where ever there is free space there is a home for an ad. Now bare in mind, I am not opposed to online advertising in any way shape or form. I work in the industry and understand the value of using it as a medium. However, with this particular website I have a little bit of an issue. Pitchforks brag and boast is that it catered to the elitist music fan whom you would find off the radar of the traditional main stream music masses.

Pitchfork has generated a robust following of slackers, indie music lovers, and collectors who use the site as a source for educated non-biased record reviews. Loyal fans and even musicians flock to the site to see where their album stood in the eyes of the "Mr. Blackwell" of online Music reviews. Opening up the floodgates of mass marketing on the site may (in my opinion) cause a bit of an issue with the type of follower that subscribes to the site. It's my understanding (not that it's not completely obvious) that the subculture that Pitchfork has it's primary stock in is not traditionally the prototypical "consumer" or "subscriber" that advertising as a whole appeals to.

Now I understand that I am making a generalization here, but I believe that the bulk of their target audience consists of people who seek refuge in the warm blanket that a site catering to counter culture/independent music provides. It could be a means to escape the constant bombardment of mainstream advertising and it's messages, or a place to find like minded individuals.

Who knows?

Either way, whether I am trying to find reviews of buzz band "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart" or looking for what "Stephen Malkmus" is currently working on, I shouldn't have to have my review or article served to me with a side helping of American Apparel, the latest ipod, and a tall serving of U2's recent shitty efforts to stay relevant.

Gong!

The Road

After many recommendations and notable buzz, I picked up the well received novel by Cormac McCarthy called "The Road." Let me start by saying - This book has easily moved up as perhaps the best thing I have read in recent memory. Some of you may know McCarthy from his other novel turned Hollywood hit "No Country For Old Men" and already grasp the writers penchant for a bleak and at times helpless outlook of mankind. In "The Road" McCarthy takes this kind of pessimism of modern man to new heights.

This is a post-apocalyptic tale of a Man and his only son traveling through an ashy, burnt out, skeleton of the planet we now know. The story sees the two on a journey and battle of survival through a dark and desolate land with "almost" no signs of life and other than the present, no signs of a past or future respectively.

The novel is an emotionally driven look at an unapologetic earth and a mans unwavering commitment to survive if not for himself, for his only child. As you read through the pages of "The Road" it casts a shadow of skepticism that the planet may be better off without us anyways.

Although the novel never clearly explains what had happened to the earth and it's inhabitants, it does point us in the direction of Nuclear fallout or an all consuming fire. It finds the father and child making their way through unforgiving weather conditions, blinding darkness, bitter cold, ravaged landscapes, and the struggles of trying to survive day to day almost void of food or water and without a drop of optimism in the bucket. They encounter decayed cities laid to rest, the finger print of past human life in the form of charred remains, and to their terror - other humans that have devolved to a barbaric almost animal like state.

After completion I couldn't help to think of "Mad Max" or other "post-apocalyptic" movies/books and compare. The thought made me scoff at their idea of what it would be like to live on a planet almost void of life and food. Mad Max now looks more akin to a romantic comedy placed in the balmy sands of the Australian deserts. Something that would be good for a chuckle, and more importantly a time to look forward to and wear goggles and leather. "The Road" however, makes you want to pray that you do not live to see a life so dark and if so, die as quickly as possible.

Sunshine and rainbows folks...sunshine and rainbows.
That's what it's all about.

Floaters n' Sinkers

So about a year ago (give or take) I came up with this idea of looking for notable Bar/Restaurant bathrooms in Toronto as material for a possible coffee table book. It was slated to be a compilation of photographs depicting Graffiti filled, unique, and memorable restrooms from some of the most visited bars in the city. Strange idea I know. Thanks.

I shelved the pursuit of it as my interest in going through with it dwindled. Actually, to be quite frank, the interest didn't weaken just the motivation or commitment of getting off my ass and doing it did. Not to mention being out without a camera kind of made the whole thing impossible.

So, after purchasing a new cell phone w/camera (this is big because over a year ago I consciously made the decision to leave the mobile communications world and stay off the cell phone grid) I took my first picture of one of my favourite bathrooms in the city. Above you will see (if you don't already recognize it) the doorway to the bathroom at Sneaky Dee's. This will be the first installment of hopefully many examples of our fine city's "loo's"

Does this make me look creepy?
It's boarder line.

What can I say, I keeps it classy.
Edit****My GF was solely responsible for purchasing of said Cell Phone