Continuation

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long. But, the guys are back together again... for at least one show.

I'll let Jag have the first word on their return, as he spelled it out so well on the band's (new) website:

We initially shied away from the idea of a 'reunion' in the classic sense, as they usually seem thrown together solely to make some quick cash, and nothing to do with being a band.  We decided that we would definitely entertain ending this silly 'hiatus' thing only if we had new music to go with it.  If you can't write and record together and barely stand each other, why would you even think about 'reuniting'?  For us, these elements all go hand in hand, and have allowed the continuation of IME.

These guys were a centrepiece of my mid-90s Canadian new rock collection. I was lucky enough to see them in concert a few times, both at festivals and small club shows, and they never gave any less that 110% on stage. The popular story is that their label abandoned them during promotion of their fourth album, refusing to help get their music radio play and/or any sort of publicity; there was also some debate over the release of a "best of" album that the band didn't really want to have released (at least, not under the conditions that it was released). This is the history that I remember, but it sounds like the band plans to clear some air about these things on their newly minted The OpenMouth Blog.

The band released four really incredible albums over the years; some of my favourite stuff they've done is the least 'radio friendly' stuff that gets tucked away at the end of their albums... but then I've never had a problem with a song being more than four minutes in length (or even more than 10 minutes long!).

Who knows where it'll go; I'm just happy that they're back together having fun with music. If we get a few good singles, that's great. If it's just a one-off show, then so be it... I'll always have the back catalogue to enjoy.  Are/Were you a fan of the band?  Favourite album or track?

» Found at: I Mother Earth .ca
» Watch: Like the Sun (youTube)

Polaris

Next week – Monday at 8:00pm EDT to be exact – the 2011 (Canadian) Polaris Music Prize will be handed out to one of the ten short listed albums. This year, just like the past five years that the prize has been given out, there are a few albums on this list that I think are very deserving of the prize. I should also say that I've never once been able to select the winner before they've been announced, so I'm certainly not one to place bets on. That said, it's not going to keep me from breaking down the short list right here for your enjoyment:

Albums I don't think will win:

• Galaxie - although I'm enjoying this album, with last year's winner (Karkwa) being a French -language album, I don't see the jury selecting two French -language albums in a row.
• Hey Rosetta! - I'm a huge fan of their first EP and their last full LP, I can't get through this album. I don't know if it's just too much of the same thing or what, but I'm just not connecting with it.
• Ron Sexsmith - I hate to do it, but I'm going to pull the "too mainstream" card for this selection. It might also have something to do with the use of auto-tune on the album that bothers me.
• Timber Timbre - you're not supposed to compare a selected album to the artist's back-catalogue, but there was something about this band's previous release that I enjoyed more than I do this album. It's still a very solid album, but I don't see it taking the prize.
• The Weeknd - not being a huge fan of this genre, especially the amount of swearing and generally crude language featured in these songs, I don't love this album. Long list, yes; short list, maybe not.

Scaled

This is another one of those projects that immediately hit me as being really cool ... and then cooled off quite quickly as I thought about it more. But, before I get to my opinion, what is it that we're looking at in the photo above this paragraph?

The Loog Guitar is the idea/creation of Rafael Atijas' as a project he started for his Master's thesis at NYU. It's a build-at-home, three-stringed guitar designed for children (ages 6+) to help them learn about music and playing the guitar. There are three interchangeable styles (body and headstock) that you can purchase and swap if you'd like; even two neck lengths depending on the age/height of the child.

Already a successful project on KickStarter, the Loog seems to have found a good niche for itself. It appears to be well built and, from the video on the site, even sounds pretty good when played. However, is teaching a child to play on a three-stringed guitar all that much better than "teaching" them to play on a five-buttoned plastic guitar? Furthermore, the US$215 advertised price point for this guitar is already higher than the price for an off-brand 3/4-scale guitar which offers the opportunity for a fast-learner to jump right into full guitar chords and use any available TAB or guitar music resource to continue learning with.

Don't get me wrong... I do think this is a neat project.  The DIY aspect of it, the care of the design (from the packaging to the guitar stand and everything) and sustainable resources used for it as well. I'm no expert on the guitar, let alone when it comes to guitar theory or instruction, so perhaps I'm totally wrong with my criticism here, but I'm just leery of learning an abbreviated version of something with the idea that you can then quickly pick-up the full version of the technique.

What is your take on the project? Will you be supporting it? Would you consider getting one of these guitars? 

» Found at: The Loog Guitar

Ten

I'm a sucker for top-10 lists; I even compile my own "best albums" list at the end of each year based on other top-10 lists. That said, Seattle Weekly columnist, John Roderick has put together a good reminder about top-10 lists that is worth a read ... especially for any other like-minded top-10 fans like myself.  It is, of course, presented as a top-10 list, so let me present you with an example to whet your appetite before you click the link below:

3. If you are too busy to discover new albums for yourself, the last thing you need is a list of more albums to buy. You should take a hot bath instead. I hear this from people all the time: They love top-10 lists because it helps them discover new music, as if discovering new music was some epic, heroic quest. I wonder--did they listen thoroughly to every record they bought last year? Did they listen to them all the way through, even? The people making records are still spending months and years on them, while the people buying them are munching through them like corn chips. Slow down.

This is something I've been saying since the dawn of the iTMS: music is becoming so disposable these days and this makes me sad. I love the album... a proper, well-ordered collection of songs, I mean; not just a collection of radio-friendly singles. I love the journey it can take you on.

Yes, I'm guilty of number four on his list, and as I mentioned above, also guilty of number five, but I still agree with what he says here. Good points and it looks like he's got a number of other good articles that I'll have to go back and enjoy as well.

Happy New Year!

» Found at: Seattle Weekly's Reverb Residency column

Hybrid

A really quick post for a Friday afternoon...

I've always wanted a Gibson Firebird V guitar... something about them just looks so bad-ass. I've seen Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) playing them before, which adds to their bad-ass credibility, IMO.

I've also recently thought that getting a mandolin to play would be pretty cool. Fun for hanging out in the backyard and/or noodling about on around the house and such. But that's probably the influence of Old Man Luedecke and the Elliott BROOD rubbing off on me... which is awesome, 'cause these guys are making some great music.

So, since I'll never likely be able to afford a real Firebird V axe, why not combine these to 'wants' into one awesome hybrid? Enter the Epiphone Mandobird VIII!  (No idea if I'd really want this, or if I'd rather have a mandolin that looks more like 'it should', but when I found this today I just had to post about it!)

» Found at: Epiphone's website

Shread

 

I don't quite remember how I stumbled on this image this morning, but it's one of a series of three images created by Rethink, a Canadian ad agency, for the Vancouver-based Sparrow Guitar company. If the design company's information page is to be believed, "in 2009, more Guitar Hero guitars were sold than actual ones." That's a pretty scary claim, but I don't know if I believe it... whatever the case, it's a pretty solid ad campaign in my eyes!

According to the website, members of Pride Tiger and You Say Party are using Sparrow guitars.

» Found at: Rethink Canada

Winner

Last night the 2010 Polaris Music Prize was awarded to Karkwa for their fourth album Les Chemins De Verre. I haven't personally heard much from this band; only what is available on their CBC Radio3 page. From the Polaris site, the album is described by Philippe Papineau (Le Devoir, Montréal) as:

Killer melodies, intelligent lyrics, and the impression of a group in total communion. This is especially apparent during the hymn Marie Tu Pleures, recorded in one take in a old French manor house. Singer Lous-Jean Cormier usually pushes his gritty voice into the low octaves, but here he dares incursions into the higher range to great emotional effect. Think about Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, The Beach Boys; even good old Quebec prog music from Harmonium.

I think this was a very strong year for the Polaris Prize; the short list had at least six or seven very strong albums on it. If Karkwa isn't your cup of tea, be sure to check out other bands on the short list, such as: Dan Mangan, Broken Social Scene and/or my pick for the year, the Besnard Lakes.

» Found at: Karkwa's official home page

Hello

The iPhone 4 was announced yesterday at one of Apple's major press events, the WWDC. I think my next mobile phone will have to be an iPhone ... or, if my old 2nd generation iPod Nano dies, maybe I'll get an iPod Touch. Either way, this platform becomes more and more impressive with each OS release or product upgrade. Beautiful design inside and out.

» Found at: Apple

Mix

I really don't know what to say about this. Words cannot describe how beautiful this packaging for a mix cd is to me. So professional. One day, some day, I'll attempt to do something like this.

» Found at: Chris Glass' website

Tour

I just learned today from i(heart)music that the follow-up to the Ketch Harbour Wolves wonderful ep, Dead Calm Horizon -- still available for free on their website, I might add -- is coming out shortly. Their first full-length will be titled, Anachronisms.

i(h)m had this to say about the new release:

I can say, without any kind of hyperbole, that Anachronisms is everything I could've hoped for and then some. Not only do Ketch Harbour Wolves capture everything that made Dead Calm Horizon special, they go even further and show that they're capable of much, much more than they showed on their sophomore EP.

Seemed only fitting that I grabbed one of their excellent tour posters for inclusion here today.

» Found at: Ketch Harbour Wolves offical site