Either way. I’m in awe of you. Either way. We’ll survive.

The band James are a bit of an oddball anomaly within the course of popular music history. For those who get them, they really really get them. To the rest they are seen as a weird, underachieving version of U2. And while I do admit that on occasion they strive to create anthemic stadium rock songs, they are just so much more.

Their music is passionate, emotional and ambitious in scope. They write some of the most delicate and understated music. They write some of the most epic and catchy music. They jam freely on stage, taking their songs into new territories and always leaving an element of discovery and excitement to their performances. Most of all, they are driven to create the music that they want to, regardless of acclaim or success. This is what I respect them the most for.


After reforming last year, they have completed and released their new album "Hey Ma" on April 7th. Do yourself a favour and download this stellar album and give it an honest chance. If you are a fan of anything to do with genres such as folk, indie, or alternative rock I'll dare you to bring me a finer collection of songs released in the past year. If you are a fan of The Arcade Fire, The Pixies, The Velvet Underground, U2, Travis, Coldplay, etc then please give them a try.

Even if you don't find them to be your thing, I am sure this strange outsider group will be sure to move you if only in astonishment at the level of talent relatively unknown and existing under the radar.

The Future Of The Cult Performer

So my new album's ready; i'm releasing it as 1) for free download and 2) A $300 Four disc cd/ dvd/ blu ray/ 4 vinyls in a luxurious sperm coated slipcase, along with pictures that only i find interesting in a heavy pirate's treasure chest padlocked with my official logo on it. inside you get a vile of my blood, an envelope with samples of my pubic hair, and a deed declaring you the owner of my soul.

Enjoy my crap.

Building Nothing Out Of Something...

The continuing gentrification of Queen West is sickening me. It's now hardly a shadow of its former self that I remember from my youth. Only 10 years ago there were close to fifteen little independent record shops selling everything from CDs and vinyls to rock shirts and memorabilia. There were a handful of little arty furniture and craft shops with cool affordable furniture and accessories. There was even 4 local comic shops, each with different selection and their own unique spin. And this was all just between McCaul and Bathurst.

Looking back, the fact that I worked and lived off of Queen West these past few years used to fill me with pride and excitement, not annoyance and forelornment. I think I'm in need of a change. It's too crowded and it's too expensive.

What is sad is rather than little clusters turning up elsewhere, everything is becoming a bit more displaced and spread apart and the sense of community is slowly getting lost. There's expensive trendy crap coming in from the east, and coming in from the west. Now with this recent fire it feels like some of the last holdouts right in between have gotten wiped out, or will sadly need to move away.






Make way for more ugly office space

Fuck February

I can't wait until about late March/ early April. In the winter I get all sluggish and depressed and sit around looking for distractions from the world being frozen and dead outside.

As soon as the thaw starts and the days get longer music starts flowing out of me like a sieve. I recently came across something like 20 songs that are really good that are either finished or almost which I want to polish up and play live at some point.

And then there is of course the matter of a certain CD that needs to be completed really fucking soon. I'll just keep limping along doing a little here and there until things pick up. *sigh*

Jigsaw falling into place

Am I crazy because I love albums? Everyone is submitting to the iPod ethic and jumping tracks like channels. Even my parents, whose musical tastes are pretty contemporary for pushing 60 don't have the patience anymore for me to introduce them to something they might like via long player format.

I'm all for singles, and I can certainly appreciate that (unlike a piece of film) music can be enjoyed as singular compartmentalized vignettes. One of my favourite things to do is listen to vinyl, and not cuz it's trendy but because it takes me back to a time when people appreciated the journey as much as the payoff.