Fatboy's Champion Sound

Well, it'd certainly rip-up the dance floor in clubs more than the previous classic "That Old Pair of Jeans" from his recent Greatist Hits compilation, Why Try Harder. Unfortunately, the slew of remixes from Audio Bulleys to M Factor to Digital Dog have left me wondering why the catchy, folky rhythms have been replaced by typical, drab, club crap. Of course, anyone wanting his infectious "Praise You"-style track wouldn't have enjoyed much of his Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars LP either, even though I have to admit to some groovy picks here and there.

Overall, I'd say stick with a more Palookaville approach in future releases, Fatboy. No one else does them and you're the king there.

Welcome to My Space Place!

So, we sold one of our monstrous IKEA lounges on eBay a few weeks ago, like I've wanted to for a year. There just wasn't enough space and so the living room felt so closed off. Now, having the extra space makes the place look huge by comparison.

Of course, with the hole left by the absence, we went down to CABAN during their closing sale and bought a wicked-ass chair. It's like the future. It's like we're in space. Well, except for the dk brown bamboo-ishness. So, it's fusion. Check it out:


BEFORE & AFTER:

Toronto International Film Fest - Part 1

So it's September and the film festival is on again. I must say, it's one of the few times that living in Toronto is really cool (other times are for the plethora of shops and concerts). Yorkville turns into a constant buzz with people swooning over possible celeb sightings and gala events, neither of which I really partake in incidently.

On Thursday, Barenaked Ladies performed outside Roots near Bay/Bloor so the school went out to watch it. It was filmed for e-Talk TV so amid the songs they played to a pretty intimate group, the band cracked jokes and talked to the audience when "on commercial break". They played "Easy", "Brian Wilson" and a few others I'm not familiar with (at one point I screamed for them to do "Be My Yoko Ono" to deaf ears), but being filmed by a crew, I thought it might be my first chance to be on TV since being interviewed about the goodness of M's Truth or Dare back in 1991, but alas, it was not meant to be. A bunch of student's heads were in it though. Super.

Yesterday, Ian and I went to Ryerson's theatre to try and catch the Korean mega-blockbuster, "the Host". Since we didn't have tickets, we had to stand out in the rush line, hoping for to get let in on the chance that there were remaining places left in the theatre after all the smart people had gone in. Right before entering and after enduring a downpour for 2 hours, some guy came up to me and handed me two free tickets. I was stunned and skeptical of their validity that I completely forgot to thank him. SO THANK YOU KIND STRANGER! We got in right away and watched the movie with a cheerful crowd and even the director who offered his request that we not sleep during it. LOL.

It was good, nothing like I expected. The special effects were pretty good until the end the obligatory fiery destruction of the monster. Still, other than having all the aspects of a Hollywood film, I don't understand why it had broken box-office records in Korea. There are much better films from there. Anywho, it's worth a see.

So...what's next? Having saved the $40 to see this movie, maybe we'll try to catch another. Stay tuned.

Mash them all up!

Ok, here are a few mashups from Confessions... i like most of them, especially the Blondie one with the little "i'm hung up"s. so cute and little.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N7HW960F

Feel Good Inc vs Hung Up
Get Together vs Sikk
Call Me vs Hung Up
Hung Up vs Blue Monday
Hung Up vs Deeper & Deeper
Hung Up vs The Drill
Isaac vs Ofra Haza
Jump vs West End Girls

Love me. That's right. Love me.

Now for my favourite M track ever: JUSTIFY MY LOVE. I've included what's been called an alternate ending for the famous Orbit 12" mix and the generic mix that has shades of Milli Vanilli back in there somewhere. Oh, and it says FUCK a bunch of times. That's always good.

Justify My Love
Orbit Alternate Version
Ultimix

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0F0FPCYD

Music makes the people come together.... ya

So, here are a couple of bootleg remixes of sorts. They aren't official or anything and I can't remember where or from whom I got them, so if it was you, give yourself credit. Still, I thought some of my friends would like to have this wide-variety of music style... hmmm, two are kinda acoustic though, so maybe they aren't that wide. Anyways.

MUSIC EP
Music (Disco Inferno Mix)
Music (Acoustic Mix)
Music (Downhome Country Mix)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0GOQI4RK

IMOGEN HEAP makes solo live music cool again!

I saw IMOGEN HEAP last weekend at The Guvernment in Toronto and although I was feeling a bit uninterested in going as it approached, boy I'm glad I did. She redeems live music by showing that though without a band and only a Macintosh computer, keyboard and looping machine, singing solo can be an ultimately creative endeavour too, even without the hoopala.

She began with "Just For Now" in front of a mic, recording her impeccable vocals layer upon layer, adding new elements every 8 bars or so. The result was a fantasmagoric experience of rippling sensations. Of course, later came most tracks from her most recent solo album, Speak For Yourself and a few gems like the cover of "Hallelujia" from the O.C. With each song, came new backing sounds eminating from the Apple and beautified piano, all with their own energy. Even the anticipated and much requested, "Hide and Seek", kept largely close to the album version, was mesmerizing by splitting her voice into different keys using a shoulder-harnessed keyboard. To top it off was her approachable manner and even a burp in the middle of the above-mentioned single, which for anyone else would have destroyed the ambience, but a laugh and witty comment later, it provided humanism to what was very computerized.

The only complaint was the sound volume of her mic during the inbetween rambles, which were pretty much inaudible to anyone standing not in the closest section to the stage. Of course, when people shouted "Talk louder", she replied, "I'll talk more loudly, but in Japanese." Otherwise, an admirable A for this excellent performance!

More Clips from Toronto @ the Guvernment / Kool Haus
Headlock
Goodnight & Go
Speeding Cars
Let Go

Have a voice in radio programming

Are you sick of what you hear on Top 40 radio? I know I am for the most part. Of course, CHUMfm 104.5 in Toronto does a pretty good job of playing a wide variety of music from pop, dance, rock and hip hop, most US radio is dominated by only the latter. Why do I care, you might ask. It's truly on principle. With a lack of variety, industry pulls towards only one style for production and artists like Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Imogen Heap and yes, Madonna, rarely get the exposure they deserve, even when making music that hits popularity elsewhere in the world. What happened to there being room for all?

Recently, I was told of an internet music rating website which relays respondents' choices to industry and forwarded onto radio programmers. When you join it, you take part in polls in your chosen genre, listen and rank songs that may become future hits. If you want to have your part in the decision-making progress, I strongly suggest you put in your two cents.