SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Static Journey 1980-2007 (2008).

I just stumbled upon this awesome site for Rheostatics fans.  Although I’m unclear who exactly runs this awesome repository of Rheostatics wonderment (oh wait, according to the Rheostatics own page, his name is Darrin Cappe).

The Static Box is a FREE 9-volume downloadable collection of all manner of Rheostatics audio: early recordings, interviews, live recordings, studio recordings, demos, everything.  I downloaded the whole shebang and it fit onto 11 CDs.

The site also has a ton of videos (including a downloadable concert from Massey Hall.

I haven’t listened to the whole thing yet (I think it clocks in around 14 hours).  But what I’ve heard is great.  The sound quality is very good (even from the older cassette demos), and the comprehensiveness of the undertaking is amazing.  If you’re a longtime fan or even just a causal listener, the amount of stuff here will be more than enough to keep you busy.

As I go through the discs I’ll post some comments about them all.

[READ: December 22, 2009] Maintenance Volume 2

Volume 2 of the series is not very different from Volume 1, and that’s a good thing.  TerroMax, Inc is still the world biggest evil think tank!  The jokes are still pop culturey (and often quite gross).  The art is very fun and conveys the action perfectly.  And, there’s still a lot of mad scientists on the loose!

This volume collects issues 4-6.  Issues 4 & 5 are a two-part story called, indeed, “Fantastic Sewage.”  The premise is that one of the mad scientists has created killer nanobots which have disobeyed him.  So he flushed them.  Where they thrived!  And our heroes are shrunken down and flushed into the sewers to find/fight them.  Yup, “ew.”  But a very funny “ew.”  You’ll never look at poop the same way again (if you ever bothered to look at it before, of course).

The second story is a self-contained one in which the TerroMax, Inc heater is on the fritz.  But Doug and Manny can’t fix it because they must attend the first annual meeting about Employee Morale (which of course is pretty low).  The delightful thing about this is that the entire cast is represented in the scene and the crazy (but deadly) creature that escapes interacts with a lot of them.  The plot is thin, but it’s great to see so many of the supporting cast.

There’s also a bonus strip. It’s only a page, but it’s even more Doug and Manny!

I’m really enjoying this series an am looking forward to Volume 3.

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Nightline Sessions (1998).

This is a fascinating document for any Rheostatics fan.  I wound up buying it at the same time as Double Live, even though I couldn’t tell exactly what it was because it was really cheap.

And what it is is a night of the Rheostatics playing on the final night of the CBC Radio show Nightlines.  The notes state that the host of the show had been a huge fan for years and had tried to get the band on a few times.  He ultimately decided that they would be the prefect guest for the final show of the series.

It opens fairly seriously with some very simply orchestrated (guitars, bass, drums) versions of Rheos songs: “The Junction Foil Ball” would be recorded officially on Night of the Shooting Stars.  And “Stolen Car” only otherwise available on Double Live, absolutely kicks in this version.

The bulk of the disc is the Rheos fooling around in the studio. There’s some improv, there’s some tape manipulation, there’s a lengthy rap (“Trans Jam”), there’s Bidini being silly on the mike (“This is Nightlines”) and even a quaint little ditty, “Henry’s Musical Beard.”

I’m not sure if an album has ever been released that was so specifically just for fans of a band.  And not even casual fans, but die-hards who would enjoy hearing the band goofing off.  The “proper” tracks are definitely enjoyable, but there’s a lot of nonsense here (okay, yes, some of it is quite funny).

[READ: December 24, 2009] Love the Way You Love: Side A

I’ve always liked Jamie Rich’s stories.  He’s written some full-on fiction in addition to his comics.  And they’re both solid, romantic works.  Ellerby’s drawing style is rather cartoony (big eyes and often outlandish hair, but it works in context).  This is especially so since this story is about teens/post-teens and rock bands.

This book collects the first three (of six) volumes of this series.

The plot is fairly straightforward: Tristan is lead singer of the band Like a Dog.  The band is on the verge of breaking big and the labels guys are on the prowl. One particular label guy is drooling to get his hands on Like a Dog.

At about the same time, Tristan saw the woman of his dreams at the airport. She then showed up at that evening’s Like a Dog gig.  Tristan is blissed until he learns that Isobel, for that is her name, is engaged to the same awful label guy.  Boo. 

The label guy is high pressure.  Tristan is not interested, mostly because the guy is a dick.  But also because he’s looking for a better deal with full artistic freedom.  The rest of the band, although they love Tristan’s songwriting skills, are interested in getting a deal from the label guy, so they encourage him to come back around and speak more to Tristan.

Despite being engaged, Isobel is quite unhappy with the label guy, and she has no qualms with sneaking off with Tristan for a snog.  And the label guy really is a jerk, even her friends think she should break off with him.  They even try to arrange for a secret meeting between Tristan and Isobel (which gets compromised by the label guy).

So, will she see the light and leave him for Tristan (who has already written a song for her)?  I imagine we’ll find out in Side B.

Rich makes his characters full, with a wide emotional range.  The secondary characters are also quite good, especially Lance, Tristan’s younger brother, who wears a cool hat and has some of the best lines in the book.

It’s not the most original story in the world, but it’s very good for what it is: a teenaged romance with a  great soundtrack.

I wonder if Rich ever writes music for the lyrics he pens?

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Melville (1991).

This fantastic Rheostatics album was one of the last ones I bought for some reason.  It came after their debut, Greatest Hits, and is quite a departure for that more simplistic disc.

It opens with the two minute “Record Body Count,” which sets the tone for the disc.  It’s quirky, with different pacings and loud/soft parts, and is quite affecting.  In fact, the entire rest of the disc is quirky and off beat, as befits a disc with a big whale on the cover.

Three great tracks on this disc are “Saskatchewan,” “Horses” and “Aliens (Christmas 1988).”  And the CD comes with a bonus track of their cover of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which is rocking and swaying as a good nautical track should.

The CD ends with “You Are Very Star” a track that ended their live shows.  On the disc, the track is a series of hockey announcements with quiet whistles as the song fades away,

Rheostatics are definitely an unusual band.  Martin Tielli’s voice goes into high registers at unexpected times, he also sing-speaks (and you can hear the Canadian accent) at times.  Tim Vesely and Dave Bidini also have vocal duties, and their more mellow style adds for a nice contrast.  But basically, what you get is unpredictable rock.  And really, there’s nothing better than that.  Especially when, once you get comfortable with the songs, you realize just how catchy they are.

Melville, it’s in Saskatchewan, and it rocks.

[READ: December 21, 2009] Salt Water Taffy: The Legend of Old Salty

This is a delightful all ages comic set on the coast of Maine.  As the story opens we see brothers Jack and Benny (I did wonder if there is some connection to Jack Benny, but I’d have to say no) driving to their summer house in Maine.  Benny is younger and having fun playing the license plate game while Jack is absorbed in his gameboy.

When they arrive, the kids run around the house investigating this and that (I loved the drawings of the kids stomping around), only to discover that there’s no TV!  Their dad is a writer and wants solitude, so they are shut off from all fun!  That is, until they meet Angus, an old sea dog who tells them the Legend of Old Salty, a gigantic lobster with whom Angus himself has had a very nasty encounter.

The rest of the story concerns Benny & Jack helping Angus track down Old Salty (and, of course, salt water taffy).  There is some absurd humor (wait till you see the seagulls) and anthropomorphic lobsters.  The art is fun: thick lines, very cartoony and exaggerated accentuating its frenetic pace. The story is appropriate for kids of all ages, and is very entertaining.

There are at least two more Salt Water Taffy stories currently in print.  And I’m looking forward to them both.

SOUNDTRACK: SONG OF THE SILENT LAND (2004).

This is a compilation from Constellation Records.  It features mostly unreleased tracks and turns out to be a great sampler for both the fan of the label and the novice.

Since the label never had any “hits” per se, they couldn’t really release a “greatest hits” collection.  But they went the extra mile by selecting rare tracks rather than just a songs from their albums,.

It also belies the idea (put forth by me as well as many others) that Constellation had “a sound.”  While they have branched further afield since this collection was released, even prior to this you can see a lot of diversity.  From the epic instrumentals of Godspeed You Black Emperor, to the noise structures of Exhaust, to the sort of spoken word of 1-Speed Bike to the viola/bass duet of HangedUp.  This compilation contains one track from pretty much every artist on their roster from the (then) new artist Elizabeth Anka Vajagic to early bands Sofa.

The Do Make Say Think track, “Winter Hymn Winter Hymn Winter Hymn” is described as a condensation of the album of that name into 5 minutes, and I believe it is).  Many of the other artists’ tracks are remixed.  But the remixes aren’t dance remixes or dub versions, they are just remixed, usually by Efrim or one of the other Hotel2Tango individuals.

If you’re a fan of the label, hunt down this disc.  If you’re not familiar with the artists, this is a great place to start.  The bands’ tracks, even the remixes are representative of the bands.  So, you get a good sense of Exhaust, 1-Speed Bike, Fly Pan Am and HangedUp.  Although the real selling point is the live track by Godspeed You Black Emperor.  It’s not one of their “real” songs per se (as it is just an outro) but it’s a nice indicator of their live show (which was one of the best live shows I’ve seen).

[READ: December 18, 2009] Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro

I’m not sure how this book ended up in my house.  I was looking at a pile of graphic novels and there was this one.  I hadn’t really noticed it before and Sarah didn’t know anything about it, so…who knows.  Anyhow, I decided to just go ahead and read it.  It turned out to be my very first manga (awwww).  And it took me a few pages to understand the style at all.

Manga primer: First off it’s written right to left (so at first I wasn’t even sure where to start the book, as this one starts without a real “start”).  Then I realized that the 4-panel style means you read all four columns down on the right and then all four columns down on the left.  And, just to complete the culture shock, you read the speech balloons on the right of the panel before the ones on the left.  After about twenty or so pages it grew easier, and by the end it wasn’t an issue anymore.  But wow!

Oh, and for a little more confusion, there are occasional full color pages thrown in, but they aren’t chapter breaks or any special pages, they just seem to be in color.

So, anyhow, on to the story.

Kuro (which means black in Japanese) is a young girl.  She is androgynous (and yet absolutely adorable).  She dresses all in black and caries a coffin on her back.  She travels around with a bat named Sen.  Sen is a wise-cracking scamp who brings much levity to the story.

Kuro is a traveler.  She is on a quest (but we don’t know what that is yet).  She encounters people all over the country, impacts their lives and then moves on.  Some think she is a vampire, others think she is a boy but most people are more than a little freaked out by her.

The book is done episodically, but there isn’t a lot of continuity between the episodes.  This is no big deal really, but it does get a little confusing (or maybe that’s just the trouble I had with the style).  About mid-way through the book, Kuro encounters two cat/children named Sanju (shortened version of 29) and Nikiju (ditto 30). They are some sort of manufactured creatures with tails but they speak and act like children.  She rescues them from captivity and they follow her on her quest.

The children try Kuro’s patience, as they are young children with no experiences and an impulsive nature.  And yet she feels responsible for these children, so she does watch them carefully (and Sen notes this is the first time he’s seen her smile).

As the story progresses, more and more details are given (as well as some cool secrets about what Kuro might actually be).  But it is all set up for volume 2.  And there’s a snippet of in the back of the book of volume two, so you can see it in the original Japanese, which is pretty cool too.

The artwork is great, of course.  Kiyduki makes his characters very expressive (and the close ups are gorgeous).  I also love the minimalist details, like Kuro wears glasses and they are often just represented by circles.

It’s a really good book, and I’m thrilled to have happened upon it.

SOUNDTRACK: TINDERSTICKS-The Hungry Saw (2008).

It was the releases of this Tindersticks disc (their first in 5 years) on the venerable Constellation Records (in North America) that inspired my trip through their back catalog. I was completely surprised to see them released on Constellation, as the band doesn’t exactly fit with the label’s stereotypical style (although, realistically with the last dozen or so releases, Constellation has really expanded the kind of music they release).

And this is a fantastic Tindersticks release!  There’s not a bad song on the disc. And, even though nothing is as immediately gripping as say “Can We Start Again,” the disc contains some of the band’s strongest songs.  “The Hungry Saw” is simply amazing, both lyrically and in its catchy (yet creepy) chorus.  But the highlight is probably “Boobar, Come Back to Me,” a song that begins slowly and builds gloriously, including a call and response segment that makes this song really swagger.

“Mother Dear” features a strangely comical musical episode.  In an otherwise very mellow piano based track, right in the middle of the song, come slashing, somewhat atonal guitar chords.  It’s as if a more rocking song is trying to overtake the mellow track.  (The coup is rebuffed, though).

The biggest thing to note about the disc is that longtime co-songwriter Dickon has left the band.  And so, some of the co-writing duties have been taken up by David Boulter.  While it is obviously sad that Dickon has left, Staples seems revitalized on this disc, and Boulter’s additions (especially his quirky instrumentals) bring a new point of view to the proceedings.  Also of note is something of a return to the orchestral style (albeit a much more understated version).  However, different songs emphasize different aspects: horns on one, strings on another, but always underscored by the ubiquitous Hammond organ.

It’s not a radical departure or anything like that.  It’s more of a continuation after a well earned vacation.  And it’s certainly their strongest release since their first four.

[READ & WATCHED: October 2009] Souvenir of Canada, Souvenir of Canada 2 & Souvenir of Canada (the movie)

I got the first Souvenir of Canada when it came out.  (I was on a big Coupland kick and may have even bought it in Montreal).  I didn’t get #2 when it came out, probably because I didn’t really invest a lot of effort into the first one.  But after recently reading City of Glass, I wanted to get a little more involved in Coupland’s visual art.  So, I picked up #2 and, while investigating this second book, I discovered that he had made a film of the books, too.

Coupland explains in the introduction that this book is his personal vision of what Canada is like. It is designed for Canadians as something of a nostalgia trip, but it is also something of an introduction to unseen Canada for non-Canadians.  And so, what you don’t get is pictures of mounties and Tim Hortons and other things that fit the stereotypical Canadian bill. Rather, you get things that are significant to Coupland (and maybe the average Canadian born on the West Coast in the 60s).

He begins with Baffin Island and moves more or less alphabetically through significant things in his Canadian existence: chimo (the short lived Canadian greeting), wonderfully aggressive anti smoking ads on packs of smokes, the Group of Seven, Inuksuit rock statues (like on the cover of this Rush album), the maple leaf (the flag’s only been around since 1967), ookpik, Poutine, stubbies, Trans-Canada highway, through to Zed.

Coupland give s brief paragraph or two (or more in some cases) about the item/idea/concept and how it related to his life.  It certainly provides an insight into a culture that is often hidden in plain sight (especially to Americans).

I especially enjoyed learning about Capitaine Crounche.

Pictures feature heavily in the book.  There are a lot of stock photos of various Canadian items.  And there are a lot of photos that Coupland has used by permission to enhance his descriptions.

Coupland has also created several “still lifes” which he finds to be quintessentially Canadian.  They feature elements from his childhood mashed together into a disconcerting yet oddly familiar scene. So there are beer bottles and electronic hockey games and Canada geese and all manner of things.  Although I have to say that I don’t find them very appealing as art.

The second book picks up where the previous one left off two years earlier.

The first book is more text heavy than the second.  This volume has a lot more photos (not original ones, more stock footage pictures, which I rather like).  It begins with some abstract ideas about Being Canadian, but moves steadily into the CMHC Houses (which will come into play for Canada House), the brilliant Robertson screwdriver, his mom’s kitchen (a favorite of mine), Terry Fox, Tranna (Toronto), Treeplanters , Y?? (airport designations…Toronto’s is YYZ, hey, like the Rush song!), through to Zut!

The Robertson Screwdriver looks like this. And it doesn't strip like a Phillips head.

This volume feels even more personal. He discusses the prevalence of Canada Geese (and that his family raised some when he was little).  There’s his mother’s kitchen and of course, Canada House.  Canada House was a project that DC undertook.  He found a CMHC house that was destined for destruction.  He was able to decorate it with his art to make it quintessential Canadian.  It is fascinating to see, and seems like it would have been quite cool to visit (for the two weeks it was in operation). The fact that he adds personal information about the experiment (people who visited and where they were from) is great.

As I said the pictures in the books are a lot of fun.  I loved the Eatson’s catalog from the 70s, and, of course, the shots from Canada House are wonderful.  DC also wrote a book about Terry Fox a couple of years after this, so the pages about him are quite moving.

This is a wonderful continuation of the series, and I think I wound up enjoying this volume more.

As far as I can tell the Souvenir of Canada DVD was recently reissued with this new cover (on the left).  I prefer the original cover (on the right) [or is that the U.S DVD release?].  I didn’t read about any real difference between the two editions, so I assume it is just repackaged.

The DVD is something of a video version of the books, but there are many differences. The documentary doesn’t go through either book with a lot of detail.  It does mention a half or dozen or so entries, and there may even be some quotes from the books.  For the most part, it contains a few highlights from the books, but it goes off on its own tangents quite a bit.  The film also features music from the New Pornographers, so that’s nice too.

The first notable thing to me was Coupland’s voice.  I have never heard him speak before and it was absolutely nothing like what I expected (especially how slow his pace is).

The main focus of the DVD tends to fall on the aforementioned Canada House.  Even though the pictures of Canada House in the book are very cool, I felt like the book didn’t show enough of this cool exhibition.  The centerpiece of the film shows Coupland picking, tearing apart, cleaning up and assembling Canada House.  We get to see a lot of the things that he talks about it the book, but we get a more 360 degree Canada House experience.  It’s very interesting.

Like the books, the film is one man’s opinion of what Canada is.  What I like about it is that it is a very uncommerical (and I think very Vancouver-centric) opinion.  It also reflects back onto Coupland’s childhood (in the lat 60s/early 70s), and I learned more about him in a few moments than in all of the book jacket blurbs I’ve read.  It comes across as so much nostalgia.  But it clear that Coupland loves his home land.  And it’s that kind of passion that makes any art compelling.

As I said, I found a lot of his still lifes to be to random at best (he says you have to be Canadian to really appreciate them, but I think even aesthetically they’re a little blah).  But the standalone sculptures are all pretty cool.  He made some lamps out of fisherman’s floats (which are HUGE!).  But the most interesting items are the quilts.  He didn’t make them, but he designed them and they are all very cool. I especially liked the $1,000 quilt which is made of 1,000 loonie coins.

It was also interesting to learn that the Canada House exhibit was exported to London (the final line of the movie is hilarious).

So, which is the best of the three?  Obviously I think the film is the most fully formed and three-dimensional.  (The Canada House thing is very neat). But the books are also a lot of fun too.  Even if you’re not especially interested in Canada, if you enjoy seeing pop culture before it gets assimilated into corporate culture, this is a fun look at what Canada used to be like.  And, of course, Coupland’s writing is always engaging.

SOUNDTRACK: KATHLEEN EDWARDS-Asking for Flowers (2008).

I first heard of Kathleen Edwards because of her duet with John Doe on “The Golden State.”  I thought her voice was great and I wanted to hear more.  I picked this album because it was her newest.

My first impression was mild.  I thought initially, great, I’ve gotten yet another Canadian country singer.  And yet, as with Neko Case, there’s something about Canadian country-tinged music that I really like (I’m not a fan of U.S. country, by and large).  And so, while there are trapping of country music on this disc (slide guitar is scattered throughout), after the third or fourth listen, something clicked and I fell hard for this disc.

While listening, especially on the more rocking songs, I kept thinking of The Tragically Hip.  And while I would not in any way say she sounds like the Hip, there is something about her sensibility, lyrically and tonally, that I think is very Hip-like.  She sings with great passion about moderately esoteric things and about Canadiana (referencing Gretsky in one song, titling another song “Oh Canada”).  And as The Hip have recently released a more folky album, the two could probably share a coffeehouse stage quite easily.

Edwards’ voice is beautiful.  But it wasn’t until I really started hearing her lyrics that it made the songs that much more intense.

“The Cheapest Key” is a rollicking song (that reminds me of The Hip in many ways).  Especially the lyrics: “A is for all the times I bit my tongue / B is for bullshit and you fed me some.”  And while I think the whole disc is great, it’s the trifecta of “I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory,” “Oil Man’s War” and “Sure as Shit” that makes this album amazing.  Lyrically, musically, passionately, they’re simply awesome.  Individually, each song is great, but together, the rocking humor of “Dough” followed by the moving sadness of “Oil Man’s War” and the mildly vulgar wit of “Sure as Shit” show such depth in just three songs.

She also pulls out a really powerful song in “Oh Canada.”  I recently wagged my finger at The Trews for being too preachy on their song “Gun Control,” Edwards tackles a similar subject by going in a different direction and by making poetry, not preachery: ” It’s not the year of the gun / We don’t say it out loud / There are no headlines / When a black girl dies / It’s not the lack of a sense / It’s called ambivalence.”

The final song, “Goodnight California” has a chord progression that sounds somewhat familiar, and yet the vocal line she lays on top of it is different, just off enough to be really enchanting.  And even though it is a slow moody piece, it has a fairly scorching harmonica (!) solo.

I’m delighted to see that she has other discs out because I can’t wait to hear more from her.

[READ: October 29, 2009] “Fanshawe”

This Shouts & Murmurs piece was really funny.  It was easily the funniest one I have read in a long time.  It reminded me a lot of early funny Woody Allen pieces (especially when he mentions what the mother died from).

The story is about Fanshawe.  He has just the one name (and comes from a long line of people named simply, Fanshawe. 

In fact, everyone in his family is named Fanshawe, just one name.  This in itself isn’t all that funny, but the absurd situations that Frazier creates (like marrying a woman named “Maria Conchita Something Something DiBiasio y Cosmo Something”) are quite giggle- inducing.

But the best part of the story comes near the end when the author interrupts the proceedings to say what a mistake it was to create a family of characters with the whole name.  Very funny.

It’s available here.

SOUNDTRACK: DANKO JONES-Never Too Loud (2008).

Danko Jones is a hard and fast rock band, with a one track mind and a straightforward sound.  They deal in excessive cliches (album titles include: Sleep is the Enemy, We Sweat Blood, Never Too Loud, etc) and play mostly short songs.  And despite all that apparent negativity, I enjoy them beyond reason.

Their first full length was a compilation of their early EPs, and it was full of outrageously short songs about big dumb sex (a bunch of the tracks were under two minutes).  Danko’s voice sounds a but like Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy, to give a frame of reference.

Never Too Loud, despite the name, actually changes their style a little bit.  He throws in a ballad (!), and he’s got one song “Take Me Home” which reminds me an awful lot of Kid Rock.   And songs like “King of Magazines” and “Forest for the Trees” similarly slow the pace down (Forest for the Trees is even 6 minutes long!).  But despite all that, Danko still rocks hard.

And yes, I admit that lyrically the disc isn’t ground breaking (“Still in High School” tends to sum up a lot of the themes here), but I don’t care.  Sometimes it’s fun to just rock out.  And Danko rocks with the best of them.

[READ: October 14, 2009] City of Glass

Douglas Coupland is from Vancouver.  And this book (and the revised edition) is like a love letter to the city (although he describes it as a personalized guide book).

When he first published this in 2000, Coupland had been experimenting with things other than novels, but this was the first book he released that was primarily photography (not his own, mind you).  He mixes photos of Vancouver landmarks as well as stock photos to illustrate the varied and multicultural life of Vancouver.

He also includes alphabetically titled texts in which he writes about a paragraph or two or three about the topic.  Most of these are personal insights into the city.  It’s not a work of fiction or even a collection of essays.  It’s more like love notes about this city.

Topics include: Backlot North (how B.C. comes after only Hollywood and New York as a primary filming location); Cantonese (the influx of Asians to Vancouver is astonishing); Greenpeace (founded there); See-Throughs (it’s not named the city of glass for nothing); Whales (there’s a special connection with the beluga–which I got to see when I was there) and of course, Grow-Ops (Vancouver has some of the strongest pot on the continent).

I’ve had the fortune of going to Vancouver and staying with a friend for a few days.  Getting the insider treatment of this cool city was certainly wonderful. I went to a number of interesting places, all right around the time that this book first came out.  I don’t really remember the details of my trip anymore, so I’m not sure if I went to many of the places specifically mentioned (except for Grouse Mountain of course), but I like to think I got to see a lot of the excitement.

Gushing about a city you went to on vacation is kind of silly, but I feel that Coupland’s excitement is infectious.  This quote more or less says it all: He writes that he spent his “twenties scouring the globe thinking there had to be a better city out there, until it dawned on [him] that Vancouver is the best one going.”  This book may not convince you of that, but it may get a few extra people to visit.

The revised edition doesn’t really change all that much.  A few new categories are added (The Big One, The Storm, Top 100 Surnames, North Shore Mountain Biking).  But then a few categories are removed from the first book too (and a few are in the new book but in different locations or with different titles).  The pictures all look a little brighter and cleaner, which is nice.  The biggest change comes in a few of the pieces (many are left untouched) in which he either updates an issue or changes its focus somewhat.

I was a little disappointed that not every section was updated.  Not because every section should be updated, but for instance, there’s one (Wildlife) in which he said (in 2000), “Last summer a black bear cub ambled down my driveway….”  It’s the same in the 2009 book.  Surely he could have just changed that to “A few years ago,” right?

So, if you’ve got the first edition, I’m not sure that it’s worth getting the revised edition   The pictures are better, sure, but I’m not sure that’s enough to justify the purchase.  If you don’t have either, I’d suggest getting the new one (although you can get a used first version at Amazon for about $3).

Either way, if you like Coupland (the writing is fairly short, but it is full of Coupland’s wit) or if you like Vancouver, this book is definitely a keeper.

The revised edition was also useful because it clued me in to the fact that Coupland has made some films (I knew about the series JPod, but did not know he had made a documentary (Souvenir of Canada) and a feature film (Everything’s Gone Green).  So thanks for that.  Now if only I can find them down here.

SOUNDTRACK: THE TREWS-House of Ill Fame (2003).

After listening to the new Trews disc, I popped in their first disc.  Mostly because I thought their first one sounded rawer.  And it does.

House of Ill Fame has the same rock feel as the new one does, but it also feels a lot more garagey.  It rocks harder, with more edge.  The songs are more memorable to me, mostly because they are a little more distinctive.  There’s some songs where the basslines really stand out (when the guitars either drop out or play some lighter riffs).

But overall the disc just feels less polished.  And it’s all the better for it.

Especially because my disc comes with a live EP.  And the band really rocks live.  They play louder, grittier, and with more energy.  These songs really come alive  on the disc.  “Tired of Waiting” one of my favorite songs on the disc, segues very nicely into the Na Na part of “Hey Jude” which is a highlight on the live disc as well.

While No Time for Later is certainly enjoyable, I simply prefer the rawer sound of House of Ill Fame. I’ve not heard the middle disc, Den of Thieves, so I’m not sure if it falls somewhere in between the two or not.  I’m sure the songs are solid though.

[READ: October 12, 2009] “Long Live Annie B.”

This is a dark story set in the winterlands of Saskatchewan.

Annie B. grows up in a destitute part of town with a destitute mom.  With few choices, Annie B., at fifteen, decides to get involved with an older guy.  Just for sex; a non-meaningful relationship.  But despite the casualness Annie B. seems to get a lot out of it, at least in terms of cinematic education.  She and her man watch all kinds of films (primarily horror films, but also foreign ones).

But with one action for him, she decides that she has had enough and breaks up with him.

During this relationship, Annie B’s mom has been doing everything she could to help them survive.  She hasn’t resorted to  Breaking and Entering (B&E being a common thing in this neck of the city), mostly just robbing grocery stores.  (It somehow seems okay to steal name brand items if you’re hungry).

Clearly, there’s not much of a future for anyone here.  So, when her ex-boyfriend calls on the phone, breathing heavily, standing in front of the quik mart in the freezing cold, Annie B. has a choice to make.

This was a pretty depressing story, but there was a ray of warmth in there.  Somewhere.

It’s available here.

SOUNDTRACK: THE TREWS-No Time for Later (2008).

I was surprised by this disc.  The cover is mildly shocking, but more just tasteless (and one that I won’t leave lying around), but it’s mostly shocking because it is so inappropriate for the music contained within.  The music is such basic rock and roll–the kind that I didn’t think anyone made anymore.  It’s almost retro in its boogie woogie Black Crows style of rock.

I had gotten their first disc, House of Ill Fame when it came out.  That disc is also a simple, rocking disc, but it has rough elements that keep the listener interested.  But No Time is so much more polished it practically shines with smoothness.  It’s funny how a little bit of smoothing can make such a difference.

The 21st century music listener is possibly somewhat aghast at this disc because it is so un-raw, un-edgy, so basic.  And yet for all of its weird retro rock stylings, releasing a record like this in 2009 is rather original.  And I  realize that if I had heard this twenty years ago I would have thought it was a great rock record.  So I put that listening cap on and found out that yes, I could rock out to this disc.

In fact, I feel like after track 4 the disc really takes off:  “Paranoid Freak” is a great rocking tune, and hearkens back to the raw writing style of their first disc (even though the song itself is not raw sounding at all).   “I Can’t Stop Laughing” has a great chorus, one built for arenas.  The only really questionable song is their “political” one, “Gun Control.”  Sure, I agree with the sentiment, but such a pointedly simplistic and, frankly, preachy song isn’t really good for anyone.

It’s become something of a guilty pleasure because I can’t think of a record less cool than this one.  There’s simply nothing here for an indie rocker to latch on to.  And yet I still like it.

But the whole time it’s so hard to imagine that this disc came out in 2009.

[READ: September 27, 2009] “Crash of ‘69″

This was an early piece by DFW and here’s the write-up from The Howling Fantods (appreciation just assumed at this point) which tells a pretty interesting origin for this story.

“Crash of ‘69″. Between C & D, Winter 1989. [NOTES: Between C & D was an experimental literary magazine literally printed on circa 1989 dot matrix printer-paper and sold in a plastic bag. Finding a copy of "Crash of '69" (in any shape) took work and many thanks go out to those who tracked it down. That being said, it was kind of a mess. A lovingly restored copy is available here.]

Turns out that there is a book of the Between C & D stories.  I can’t find out very much about it, but I’m going to try and interlibrary loan it and see what else I can discover.  If I’m reading what little information I have correctly, it appears that Kathy Acker & DFW may be published in the same book (which is of course funny given his review of her work here).

But on to this short story.

As with much of his short fiction, “Crash of ‘69″ comes across as rather experimental.  Each paragraph or so is headed by a character’s name (there are three in total, I think, although the female character’s description in the heading changes each time she speaks.

The main character is Karrier.  He has the distinction of always being wrong–a trait he shared with his father.  Both men have been used quite successfully on Wall Street for their unfailing ability to be wrong (which is often just as good as being right if the correct question is asked).

There isn’t a plot per se about this character except that his boss is concerned that his gift for being wrong is slipping somewhat.

It’s an interesting story-lette in an of itself.  But the story hinges on the woman.  And it gives the story a new angle of strangeness.  The woman is described variously but ultimately as  “Miss M. Lynch, Daughter of the 1st Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, October ‘69.”  And it is her story that really propels what there is of a plot here.  She is planning to get something out of Karrier to assist her father.  But even that is rather nebulous.

M. & Karrier’s paths cross, but even that scene is written as a bizarre/noir situation.

I can’t say I know a lot about DFW’s early works, but it seems like he is trying to do some oddly experimental work here.  And experiments are tough to talk about because if you don’t know what the experiment was, you don’t know if he succeeded.  As a apiece of its own I thought it was a little underwhelming, although again, some of the scenes are evocative and the premise of the guy being always wrong was interesting.  Although you couldn’t really go much further in the story with that character.

M. Lynch’s character (and character headings) were also fascinating.  But this feels like a case where too much was left out of the story.

I also accept that there is something relevant to it being set in 1969 that I simply don’t know anything about.  That might shed some light on just what’s happening here.  Without doing research, I assume that Billy G. is Billy Graham and Allen G. is Allen Ginsberg.  Also, is there some significance to being the Fed Chair in 1969?  I don’t know.  I’m not willing to investigate all that much for this story.

SOUNDTRACK: NEKO CASE-Middle Cyclone (2009).

I first learned of Neko Case through The New Pornographers.  Their song “Letter from an Occupant” blew me away.  But when I’d investigated her solo work, I learned she was more of a country singer than anything else.  Reviewers said that Middle Cyclone broke from that mold a little into more rock territory.

I don’t know her early stuff, but I can attest that these songs are mildly rocking. However, it’s hard to take the country out of the singer.  There’s something about Neko’s voice on this disc that screams country (even as her songs get faster and more furious).  But, much like k.d. lang who won me over when she broke away from her country roots, so did Neko Case.

Rather than explicit country, Neko case seems to be filling in the shoes of the sorely missed Kirsty MacColl, another great singer-songwriter who melded genres like so much fondue.

Case never hits the manic intensity of “Letter from an Occupant” (she admitted on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me that her vocals were sped up for that song), but she proves to be a powerhouse singer.  And once I got over the fact that this album didn’t ROCK, I accepted that it was very good.  I don’t know if I have a favorite track, although I do like her cover of Sparks’ “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth.”

I finally managed to listen to the last track, “Marais la Nuit” all the way through on my lunch the other day.  It is, literally, 30 minutes of frogs and bugs chirping away.  It’s quite relaxing, but not really worth listening to all 30 minutes.

[READ: October 8, 2009] “Summer of the Flesh Eater”

The title is not misleading exactly, but it may make you think zombies are afoot.  But they are not.  (I debated about revealing this, but figured it would win more fans of people who don’t like zombies than lose people who do).

This story is fantastic.  It is written from the point of view of a group of suburban househusbands.  They live on a cul de sac, eat fancy food and discuss the acquisition of art in knowledgeable terms.  Their lives are upended when one of them moves out and the vacant house is bought by a man with hockey hair (and they can’t tell of it’s ironic or not).

When the men introduce themselves, the first thing he introduces to them is his Q.  For it turns out that his barbecue is his most favorite item.

At first the cul de sac inhabitants mock this class-free individual and all of his bad habits: the truck on blocks in his front yard, his evil dog, etc.  But soon, like the poisoning of an ecosystem, the kids and even the wives seem to be intrigued by this outsider.

The snooty tone is very funny and well maintained through the story.  It is also more or less told in first person plural (like The Virgin Suicides) which leads to a lack of culpability as the story gets more and more creepy.  And creepy it does get.  As the men get more and more desperate, their thoughts turn more sinister.  So that even they wind up aping their reviled neighbor.

It’s a rare story that can have you laughing for the first three pages and then cringing for the last two.  Fantastic!

Read it here.