Thursday, July 16, 2009

Gone 'Till September

Well, this is the moment that around 4 people around the world were dreading; I'll be taking a bit of a break from the Evil Shananigans blog. It's been over a year since I started digging up new music for you, and have since produced in excess of 150 posts for your listening pleasures.

However, this Sunday, I hop on a plane. I land in Toronto. I spend a day dropping things off and sorting out some details. Then I hop on another plane. I land in Calgary. I drive to Lethbridge. I get to see my beautiful new niece. I return to Calgary. I plan. August 1st arrives.

On August 1, I'll be undertaking one of the biggest feats of my life. I will be cycling from Calgary to Toronto to raise money for Myeloma Canada. With the over 3500km trek, I hope to raise over $35,000 and more importantly, make people across the country aware of this rare but debilitating cancer of the bone marrow.

To learn more about my campaign, please visit www.prairiepedal.com

I arrive back in Toronto around Sept. 12, so you can expect that I'll be itching to impart my first bit of musical genius quite soon after that. On the downside, you'll have to do your own new music searching for a while. However look on the bright side; you'll get to listen to The Dead Weather's new album for an entire two months before I even get to hold it.

You lucky dog.



-Never do anything until you're sure, and never be sure of anything

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Old Prince continues to impress

It's going to be a bit of a winding down week as starting next week, I'll be going on hiatus from Evil Shananigans to ride across central Canada and raise money for cancer research. Things will be quiet for a couple of months, but rest assured that the volume will be turned back to 11 in September.

Nothing new today, however a reminder of something you should really be listening to more of. A lot of people disrespect hip hop because many argue it lost the origins which gave it life (soul, R&B, funk). I say in a lot (if not most cases) those nay-sayers might be right. However, let it be known that just as pop is destroying rock and Nickleback is destroying music as we know it, there are exceptions to everything.

In the world of hip hop, Shad is one of those glorious exceptions. A while back I introduced Shad, however since that time have come to respect his art so much more. Videos like the one below remind me of what a truly amazing musician should be; inspirational.

So go be inspired.



-I'll trap the soul of modern man inside rumors of a better land

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Angry revisions

I have to plead guilty to underestimating the strength and dynamism of my own province. When Sampson left Propagandhi to form the Weakerthans I kinda figured he would be taking all the creativity and talent with him, leaving Propagandhi as nothing more than an angry Pennywise: doomed to continually repeat themselves.

I should know better than to think so low of a fellow Toban. Propagandhi released their latest, Support Caste, in March and I'll admit, I didn't hear a note of it until yesterday when Jesse spoke magical words of my head exploding and various bodily fluids finding glorious exodus from my body. Jesse didn't disappoint either. He doesn't usually, but every now and then he'll throw me a bone that ends up being a hardcore band which not even a mother could stomach (though, do many hardcore moms REALLY appreciate their son's music?). But I digress.... he was right about this.

Incredibly right. Jesse had compared the transformation the boys had made since Potemkin City Limits similar to Mastodon's shift between Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye. What I didn't realize was that Jesse's choice of bands would be fitting; Propagandhi no longer sounded like the droning, angry punk band which I was getting bored of. They had started to incorporate elements of metal, hardcore and prog into their music... and I liked it. Sure, they still had the odd drag 'em out, no frills, angry punk rock song... however this time, the album was rounded out by some of the most complex songwriting I've ever seen from a punk band (if you can still call them that).



-Dave, wherever you are, I hate you

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Better Late Than Never

Montreal's Priestess released their first album back in 2006. No shit, they're well overdue.

Fortunately, they've broken radio silence and announced that their softmore release will be popping your little brain buckets in the fall. Supposedly, they claim the delays were due to huge issues with labels and that we could have been listening to this album months ago with a simpler system. I think they were just having too much fun touring with Mastodon, Converge, Megadeath, Clutch, Iron Maiden and GWAR.

Ok, I guess I can't really blame them. Besides... how can I stay mad at this?



-Who's side were you on when you couldn't see the other side?

Friday, July 3, 2009

Don't tempt me

I got home from the pub last night and I read something.

I didn't believe what I read.

I re-read it this morning and it was still there. I don't THINK I'm still drunk this morning (though, there's always a chance).

What I read is that some sort of unholy supergroup is being formed out of some of my favorite musicians in the world. Dave Grohl is God, and anything that he touches has always found a deep way into my mind, heart and soul. Josh Homme came on the scene only in the last 10 years for me, but proved an amazing musician with an incredible voice and an ability to write very unique songs which incorporate all kinds of influence. John Paul Jones is just... well... dude, FUCKING ZEPPELIN.

Excuse me, I need to retreat to the bathroom for a moment.

Lips are very tight and this is currently nothing more than a rumor. Grohl joked about this group back in 2005 and apparently, Homme's wife and current Spinnerette front, Brody Dalle, let something leak in an interview. Supposedly these 3 are in a studio.

And supposedly, your mind is soon to be blown.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

I postulate to have seen a ghost

Crazy times are upon us. This Friday, my band, The Noble Rogues, have their last UK show at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford. If you're in the Ox area, I encourage... nay, I demand you show up for some ridiculous good times. What is going to be a sad point for me is that immediately following the show, I will be selling my Vox AC30 amp. She's been a fantastic amp for the year, but is just too fat to justify hauling all the way home to Canada.

At least I know she's going to a good home. When I received an email from Aaron of The Phantom Theory inquiring about the amp, I actually became a bit angry. Here was an Oxford based 2 piece band, much like my own which plays ridiculously awesome music and whom I had spent the past year with no knowledge of. After complaining about the number of shit, Oasis-imitating bands we'd been lumped on a stage with in the UK, I guess it was just frustrating to finally be meeting a good band on our way out of town.

The Phantom Theory is a noise rock band with a similar feel to the likes of DFA 1979. Dirty, aggressive, driving and catchy all at once; these boys know how to make make music reach out through the amp and grab you by the balls. It's always nice to see another 2 piece that can generate enough noise to impregnate you through your ear drums.



-Fly your inaugeral crash into me