Miguel Syjuco–”Stet” (The Walrus, July/August 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: ROB SZABO-”If I Could Do It All Again” (2003). Rob Szabo is a singer-songwriter.  And this song is a pretty traditional singer-songwriter song.  It’s got some humor, it’s got some cliches.  In some ways he reminds me of Jill Sobule (lyrically, not vocally, obviously) or maybe Loudon Wainwright III. Szabo has a number of [...]

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Madeleine Thien–”Su Na, Bird” (The Walrus, July/Aug 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: HURON-”Corktown” (2010). Huron‘s “Corktown” opens with a guitar riff that sounds like classic 70s rock (hello Thin Lizzy!).  But when the song kicks in for good, the verses are a light, jangly pop.  It makes for a really interesting mix of styles and it works really well. Some of the other tracks include the [...]

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Herman Melville–Moby-Dick [Week 6 (End)] (1851)

SOUNDTRACK: MASTODON-Leviathan (2004). This is the CD that started it all.  Well, for me and Moby Dick- related music, anyhow. My friend Andrew asked if I would be reviewing it along with Moby Dick.  And, yes I am. Leviathan is sort of a concept album about Moby Dick. I say sort of because it’s not [...]

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Michael Winter–”Billy Bennett” (The Walrus, July /August 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: SAID THE WHALE-”Gentleman” (2009). This song starts out simply enough, a folky bouncey song.  It’s an almost harmless song, almost easily forgotten.  And yet there’s something about it that raises it above songs that typically sound like this.  Enough, that is to make me want to listen to it again. When I investigated the [...]

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Geek Monthly Magazine has folded

I recently realized that I had not received an issue of Geek Monthly for a while.  I assumed my subscription had lapsed (it does that).  But when I went to their web site,well, let’s just say don’t bother. The folding has been confirmed by Blog Magazine.  And I’m embarrassed to see that they folded in [...]

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Fredy Perlman–[Week 3] Letters of Insurgents (1976)

SOUNDTRACK: CHUMBAWAMBA-Anarchy (1994). Long before Chumbawamba were Tubthumping up the charts, they were a bunch of squatting anarchists.  In fact their history as a collective is fascinating  in and of itself (they had even started a record label called Agit-Prop). This album was their sixth, and the cover was not the only controversial thing about [...]

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Stephen Marche–”A Few Acres of Snow” (The Walrus, July/August 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: GALAXIE 500-”Big Bang” (2006). When I saw this band come up on CBC Radio 3, I thought, I didn’t know that Galaxie 500 were Canadian.  Well, they’re not.  At least the early 90′s band Galaxie 500 aren’t.  But THIS Galaxie 500 are from Montreal. Now, I understand that there are a lot of bands [...]

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Heather O Neill–”Riff-Raff” (The Walrus, July/August 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: THE SLEW “100%” (2009). The Slew is the latest band created by DJ Kid Koala. Koala is a fantastic turntablist, and this group uses his scratching and sampling to excellent effect.  The lineup includes drums, bass, keyboards and six turntables! It’s an insane hodge-podge of music.  And it’s very fun.  I’ve no idea how [...]

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Zsuzsi Gartner–”Say the Names (after Al Purdy)” (The Walrus July/August 2010)

SOUNDTRACK: YOUNG RIVAL-”Got What You Need” (2009). I was only able to hear this song once.  It’s surprisingly on available on the Young Rival playlist on CBC Radio 3).  Young Rival play a kind of fast, noisy punk and yet the melodies underneath the noise are very poppy. I also played the track “Authentic” which [...]

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Herman Melville–Moby-Dick [Week 5] (1851)

SOUNDTRACK: THE DECEMBERISTS-”The Mariner’s Revenge Song” (2005). This was the hardest week for music tied to Moby-Dick. (I’m saving Mastodon for the grand finale).  I don’t really have anything that relates directly to the book.   I have a number of nautical-themed songs, but very little in the way of albums.  And, it’s true that this [...]

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