MOG - ErinHanson's Posts

The One Redeeming Song off dEUS's "Vantage Point"

ErinHanson — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:18:55 GMT

This man is perhaps my favourite musician of all time.

(Tom Barman of dEUS)

This was an acoustic version made for the net.

The album version is a duet with Guy Garvey of Elbow. I love it, I think it's a deceivingly simple song-- the harmonies between Tom and Guy are fantastic. The song is subtle but I believe it to have a lot of depth.

I would, however, be wary of where this song came from: their latest release, "Vantage Point." While a cool album in itself, it is not of the calibre expected of this incredibly-influencial band. Their first three albums are MUST-LISTENS:

1. Worst Case Scenario

2. In a Bar, Under the Sea

3. The Ideal Crash

Yes, all 3, in order. All albums, start-to-finish. No skipping tracks now, y'hear?

The Beta Band's back..... in the form of Beck.

ErinHanson — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:34:02 GMT

On my drive home. I was listening to the radio today (the wonderful Zone 91.3 FM from Victoria) and this fantastic song came on. It was the Beta Band. I was floored-- a Beta Band song I had never heard before, but a Beta Band song I instantly loved.

Okay, so I knew there was just no way it could be the Beta Band, but the voice, the music, the structure, the strange, spacey but uplifting prog-rock-inspired and undeniably British sound...

This was the best piece of music I've heard in a long, long time.

I called my sister up, who I hoped would be sitting at a computer so she could check the website and read the constantly-updated playlist, and solve this mystery.

Oh, the suspense as she waited for the webpage to load!

I knew it couldn't be the Beta Band. There's no way they're getting back together, and let's face it, no radio station out here would play some obscure Beta song, if any Beta song at all.

Sure enough, it's the newest single of Beck's latest album. The song's called "Chemtrails."

I've listened to it via Youtube almost on repeat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeiFVfyiSiw) and I just can't get enough. However, let's give credit where credit's due. I nervously searched "Beck, chemtrails, Beta Band" to see what the general public had to say.

And thankfully, Spin knows it's music genealogy.

http://www.spin.com/blog/new-stream-beck-chemtrails

Let me just borrow Spin's words to sum it up here:

"Ever-morphing, Beck seems to have been listening to the Beta Band -- a lot."

I don't know if I'm criticizing Beck or praising him for his influences. Let's face it, the song's great. It's fantastic. Go out and listen to this. Now.

Then follow it up with "Wonderful" by the Beta Band... or the entire Three EP's album. Or the entire Beta Band catalogue. You can't go wrong.

Erin's Music Challenge! Challenge #1

ErinHanson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:57:06 GMT

I have just started a new job which involves a somewhat regular trek out to an area 1.5 hours away from my home! This means I’m spending at least 3 hours in the car on a fairly regular basis. Ecological sustainability issues aside, I don’t mind the drive so much— providing I have good tunes, and/or an engaging news program on. It’s a good chance for me to listen to things like albums I haven’t heard in a long time, bands I want to get to know, or news programs where I learn a lot.

However, I’m quickly running out of CDs I can listen to from start-to-finish to provide a good 45-mintues or so of quality music during my drive. Solid albums are key— I don’t want none of this skipping tracks business!

So this is my proposal for you. I want you to spread the good tunes my way.

I thought maybe I could make this into a fun thing... So I ask a themed question every now and then, you respond with your musical recommendations.

So, challenge #1: What is an album, or albums, that you can listen to from start-to-finish? (Or, perhaps, phrased a different way: if you had a 3-hour commute, what albums would you bring with you? No skipping tracks!)

I’ll start, just to get the ball rolling… albums I bring on the trip that I can listen to start-to-finish: -dEUS, “in a bar under the Sea” -dEUS “The Ideal Crash” -Broken Social Scene, self-titled -Dead Man Ray, "Trap" -u2, the Joshua Tree

OK, your turn! :)

Stand and Deliver! Keeping an ear open for the Now Time Delegation

ErinHanson — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:42:10 GMT

It has been ages since one song has made me so excited about a band like "Stand and Deliver" has made me about the Now Time Delegation.

I've hardly been able to find anything about them online, but I dig it. It's like soul and blues but with a spirit so very rock and roll... I was thinking of old Tina Turner, but I'm sure there are better comparisons. It holds the same promise as the Go Team did when I first heard Huddle Formation.

Getting the album pronto... Let's hope it's as wondrous as Stand and Deliver hints.

Random Words + iTunes Search Field = instant playlist!

ErinHanson — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:22:43 GMT

I use iTunes to play my music. Sometimes I'm looking for a specific song to play, and I type its title or album or whatever in the search field. Usually I only have to type a single word, or even just a few letters, to get the song I want. This leaves a few other songs in that list, which will automatically play afterwards.

Using this method, almost without fail, I discover music that I didn't even remember I had. Or I pleasantly rediscover music. This is usually because it will play songs out of context. For example, my friend made me a very mellow compilation CD. I don't usually play it because I associate it with being very, very quiet. But today, completely unrelated, I wanted to hear "Orange Bird" by the Sound Team. I typed in "Orange," leaving a playlist consisting of:

Orange Bird by the Sound Team Orange Skies by Alexi Murdoch Tell All your Friends by Projet Orange

After the Sound Team finished, Alexi Murdoch's "Orange Skies" began, and I thought to myself, "Hmm, what is this song? I quite like it. How did I acquire it?" To my surprise it was on my friend's mixed CD. Outside of the larger context of this CD, I listened to this song with a completely open mind. Sometimes I need that to truly appreciate a song.

So sometimes it's fun to just pick a word, any word, type it in the search bar, and voila: a nice new random playlist.

Right now I want to hear Nouvelle Vague's cover of "The Killing Moon." So here I go... typing in "Moon"...

Passion - Blackalicious Midnight Moonlight - The Be Good Tanyas The Moon - Glen Hasnard & Marketa Irglova Blue Moon Rising - Gomez Honey & the Moon - Joseph Arthur Bushfire - Midnight Oil Drums of Heaven - Midnight Oil The Killing Moon - Nouvelle vague Cartoon Moon - Rudy Trouve Goodnight Mooon- Shivaree

Now that's a nice and varied playlist I would have never picked out for myself.

Hmm... I wonder what i'd get if i typed in "banana..."

(Bananaman by Glen Hansard, and Bananapeel Blues by KMD, apparently.)

What fun!

Mixed Tapes Pt I

ErinHanson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:42:35 GMT

My sister and her boyfriend are embarking on a mini-roadtrip to one of my favouritest destinations in the world, Tofino. I have a hard time describing Tofino. It's kind of on the edge of the world. It's on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Getting there involves a 2-hour ferry ride from Vancouver, then a 3-5 hour drive across a mountainous island on a long, winding highway through old-growth rainforests (800+ year old cedars) and breathtaking lakes. At the very end of this incredible drive is a town... A small West Coast Canadian town. You feel like you're at the end of the world. Fishing and float planes, kayaks and surfers, and of course, miles upon miles of beaches where the rainforest meets the Pacific Ocean. There are islands and whales and sometimes you swear you can see straight across to Japan. It's become the Canadian surf mecca and it's where I go to surf, and there's nowhere quite like it.

Part of the joy of going to Tofino is that it's the perfect reward for the trek one must embark on to get there. The trip is so enjoyable because not only are you going through some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, but there's this overriding excitement about your ultimate destination. And of course, in this situation, one must have the perfect soundtrack.

So I didn't have much time before my sister was going to go, but I managed to put together a couple of CD's which I thought would nicely complement the long drive west.

CD #1 1. Ambulance Ltd- Stay Where You Are Despite the song title, this is the perfect traveling song. I first realized this as I was leaving London on the train, sad to be going, heading up to Edinburgh to start my life in Scotland. This entire album brought immense comfort and perfectly complemented the rolling hills and farmland out the window. After that, almost like a ritual, whenever I'd leave Edinburgh on the train, I'd put this song on. The songs rhythm mimics the movement of the train. 2. Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill 3. The Shout Out Louds - Very Loud When I saw them play in Vancouver, I didn't know a single song by them. They played this as the encore, and everyone in the house danced and sang along at the top of their lungs. Despite the underlying sadness, this song quite clearly filled everyone in the whole venue with so much joy. I think of that every time I hear this song. 4. Ambulance Ltd - Michigan Same story as the Ambulance Ltd track above... this time it's not so much the rhythm but the lyrics. "Driving to seaside Michigan... I've been a real bad family man... You've been a teenage runaway, carry the people that you hate in a suitcase..." It just speaks volumes about why some of us go travelling, and yet there's this hope that comes with travelling: the potential that our life could change. 5. Salmonella Dub - Longtime A great dub track and perhaps the most contentedly chilled out song on the planet. This is driving to sunny destinations music. I put this song on to remind my sister that, despite it being February, she was heading to a chilled-out surf town. It wasn't till after that I remembered the travel-themed lyrics: "We all know that you had to go, just spread your wings and let the wind take your flow... International traveller, you'll never give up." 6. Sublime - Ebin Love this song! Once again, sunny California dub-punk to raise the stoke factor. 7. The Kooks - Time Awaits Brit pop does reggae. Still goin' with the sunshiney surf theme, trying to get spirits high. I always hope nobody notices the dirty lyrics. Aside from that, I fucking love this song and can usually put this one anyone's mixed CD and know they'll like it, whether or not they realize this is the same band responsible for "Naive." 8. The Spinto Band - Oh Mandy There's a mandolin in this. Enough said. 9. Calexico - Close Behind Instrumental and when it gets that Mexican flavour I just go nuts. 10. Charlatans - With No Shoes 11. Sublime - Bad Fish It wasn't until I heard Jack Johnson cover this that I realized what a brilliant song it was. (Though I'll always be true to the original.) 12. K'naan - Strugglin' I don't usually like hip hop, but I dig this guy. Thought it would be good to throw this in and mix it up a little. The only thing is, he uses the same sort of rhythm as Eminem. 13. The National - Fake Empire Personally I'm not on the National bandwagon like the rest of the world, but there is something great about this song. My sister & her bf haven't heard anything by the National which in this day and age (and indie music scene) is blasphemous. 14. The Frames - Fighting on the Stairs Uncomfortably real lyrics to a great catchy tune. 15. Devendra Banhart - Seahorse This song's an epic, it goes on long and progresses through a couple genres before it cumulates in one wickedly wonderful 70's rock jam. Love it. 16. The Guillemots - Sao Paulo Actually, if anything, this is the actual epic. It is quiet and long, like a storm brewing, and the sounds get louder and louder until it all blows up. It's one that I know people could get impatient with. However, especially after a couple listens, it's nothing short of brilliance. This song is the only one that could end the CD. There's no other place for it. And what an ending.

Discovering Old Music (Old for you, new for me!)

ErinHanson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:04:57 GMT

I just found this on Youtube and it filled me with such joy I have no choice but to share with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY2xkRs6Iys

In all honesty, you all probably know far more about Jacques Dutronc than I do, and might not find this video as entertaining.

I learned about Jacques Dutronc when I spent a considerable amount of time in Belgium. I was strictly there to go gig-hopping and record shopping-- the music scene in Antwerp is one of my favourite things in the world, right up there next to chocolate and the colour yellow. But I had a good friend living in Brussels, and I went down to stay with her for awhile. I was shocked at the invisible border between Flanders and Wallonia. The language was a jarring difference (people smirked at my heavily-accented French, unlike in Flanders where everyone will happily speak impeccible English). But for me, something else which marked this sudden cultural shift between regions was the music. The music I was exposed to in Wallonia was mainly French exports. I was eventually heading to Paris, so my friend played me a song she liked. Jacques Dutronc's "Il est cinq heures, Paris s'eveille." I laughed, a lot-- to me it was pure 1970's cheesiness. She actually liked this stuff? But it was charming and just dripping in French that I made a mental note to download it when I was once again back home with a computer and wanting to reminisce about my travels.

From then on, in my mind Jacques Dutronc was synonymous with Serge Gainsbourg. I realize some of you may find this blasphemous, but I don't know much about Serge Gainsbourg, aside from the fact that he had a very scandalous song out once that involved a lot of heavy breathing and a beautiful female co-singer (who was famous in her own right and yet I can't even place her name). To me, I wasn't that interested in French music out of the 70's.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when I was browsing a fellow Mogger's profile, and found this video:

I couldn't believe that Jacques Dutronc wasn't actually an old, largeish man who rose to fame with adult contemporary love songs in the 1970's. This song has been clearly influenced by the British Mod movement. Once again, I apologize for my embarrassing lack of knowledge of the history of the French music scene.

To give him credit, this is from Pip68's MOG, although it looks like he hasn't updated the thing in over a year. According to Pip, this clip is from around 1967 and is, as you can see, Jacques Dutronc with Francoise Hardy. There's an odd bit where she says in a strange voice "et toi, et toi, et toi" which apparently refers to Dutronc's hit single "Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi." And Pip's favourite part? The fact that they were both actually in love during this film (and are still married, according to my later research on Wikipedia!)

I'm digging these tunes. What I've been watching of Jacques Dutronc on Youtube has shown me a sound very different than "Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S'Eveille"... (although you gotta check that tune out sometime.)

Another one I like? The Catcus song. Something about the whole world is one big cactus, you can't sit down comfortably without pricking your butt.

Ah, I love discovering old music... old for you, new for me...

PS: I may be shot down for suggesting this, but I don't think it's a stretch to see Ewen McGregor in Jacques' shoes in the video for "Le Plus Difficile." But hey, like I said, before I saw this video I thought Jacques Dutronc was a fat balding man.

The Song that Got me Mogging again

ErinHanson — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:37:44 GMT

So I never did get around to Why I Love Audio Cassettes Part II (it lies half finished in a Word document), which acted as such a de-motivator for writing more on this blog, even though I had so much to say, like how bloody AMAZING the Animal Collective was live, one of those rare surprises when you can't really be arsed to go to a gig that night, you're just tired and don't want to be standing around waiting for some shitty opening act to finish their set so you can just sit around and wait some more for the headliners you're still not completely sold on... You know, one of those nights and you just force yourself to go to the show because the ticket's been sitting on your dresser for 3 months (and it cost $26.50, bastards) and then... and then... the show's fucking epic. Spectacular. (Am I allowed to swear on this thing? This isnt like public radio, right?) Anyway, I could have gushed on and on about Animal Collective... but I didn't. And then there was that time when a show I had been waiting months for, if not years for since the band is from far far away and rarely comes to North America-- the band whose records I imported from Europe and whose antics I had been following like a stalker through cyberspace... well, they came through at such a busy week that I just forgot about the show. Just FORGOT about it, until I was in the shower one morning, and thought, "Hey, shit, [insert band name here] is coming this week! Cripes. I'm so glad I remembered... maybe the show is tonight! Wow." So I got out of the shower and ran to my room to see where my multitude of tickets were thumbtacked to my wall-- precisely so I wouldn't forget any, you see-- and there it was, said band on my wall, for the night before. The fucking night before. I just stared at the wall for a few minutes in silence. Not angry, not sad, just feeling empty because I am such a dolt and I was so upset that I missed this gig I had been waiting about 4 months for. Has that ever happened to you? Such a busy concert week that you actually FORGET a concert that you had a ticket for? I wanted to write all about that and seek consolation from you, my fellow Moggers, because if you've done it too, then I'm alright, right? It's not the end of the world, right?

And then there's that cover of "Big Hard Sun" which Eddie Vedder has done for some movie, and now it's all over the radio, and that music snob dilemma comes over me where I feel a little overprotective. It's like your little baby has become popular, and the masses are embracing this song as if Eddie Vedder wrote it (even a local DJ on the radio claimed he wrote it!! Blasphemous) and in actual fact it's a song by some little known Canadian singer who went by the name of Indio. And that song I had adopted years ago and it became somewhat personal, which was okay because I thought the song was otherwise forgotten, and all of a sudden it's as if someone's taken my diary from a specific time in my life, and ripped out the soundtrack to that and has exposed it to gazillions of strangers. I kind of feel naked when Eddie's version of "Big Hard Sun" comes on the radio. I had thought about describing landscapes through sound, and writing some pretentious-sounding essay on Soundscapes and how we create them and let them define parts of our lives... but perhaps you wouldn't want to read that wanky garbage. So even though I was bursting at the seams with commentary on this, I refrained from blogging about it on here.

BUT after all these Mog blogs waiting to be written, what has finally got me here? Well, a late night, caffeine, and Camera Obscura.

I was living in Edinburgh almost 2 years ago now. Glasgow's Camera Obscura was a name that was thrown around a lot-- I'd frequent Avalanche Records, or Ripping records or FOPP or wherever, and I'd hear that name, thrown in with other Scottish acts, usually in the Scottish section (always with Snow Patrol, Travis, the Reindeer Section and the Beta Band featured prominently...) I guess I always thought that Camera Obscura would reach my ears somehow. Be filtered down through all the other stuff by some Scottish-content requirement on the radio. The local pride of record store staff. The DJ at the Wee Red Bar on Saturday nights. But it wasn't until I was working the opening shift at a coffeeshop this past weekend in Canada. Half-asleep at 6am and bitter that we had to be working at this ridiculous hour on a Saturday morning, my coworker turned off our normal customer-friendly inoffensive world music (spliced with the obligatory Jack Johnson) and put on an indie rock Internet radio station. The music was fantastic. With every song I wanted to run up to the 2nd floor where we keep the computer and find out what was playing. "If Looks Could Kill" by Camera Obscura finally was the one that made me run up there. I wrote the name down, got home, downloaded the entire album. Then I discovered what was apparently a single when I was in Scotland, "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken."

I'm addicted. So addicted. You know those songs that just put you in a good mood? And then they get stuck in your head, and you don't care? You actually want them to get stuck in your head? And then you play the song and feel guilty for pressing the repeat button when the song's over. (I feel guilty doing it, but I was always consoled by the fact that if I was alone, nobody knew. Until I downloaded the Mog-o-Matic and realized that all you music lovers can actually track how many times I've put that darn song on loop.)

Maybe in 2 days I'll be over it, but I'm pretty obsessed with both "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" and "If Looks Could Kill." I love the singer's voice. There's something so upbeat and fabulously girly about it, and the slight reverb gives it this almost 60's sound to it...but not quite... It just has atmosphere and a catchy beat and I'm finding their album "Let's Get Out of this Country" pretty solid. I can't belive I didn't discover them in Scotland. If I had, I'd request them nonstop at the Wee Red Bar on Saturday nights so I could dance to this shit. (There is nowhere in Vancouver to dance to this shit.) I'd have bought their records and feel like I was really immersing myself in local culture. But I digress.

The moral of the story? I dig it.

That's all. Thanks for reading my nonstop verbal sludge.... phew. I'm not necessarily encouraging you to rush out and buy this Camera Obscura album. But I thought I'd share with you that moment when you find that song that just makes you so HAPPY.

So. Are there songs like this for you at the moment? What are they? Sharing music is the best thing in the world... tell me your current musical obsessions.

Why I Love Audio Cassettes, Part I

ErinHanson — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:37:47 GMT

A Tribute to the Tape: Why I love Audio Cassettes, Part I

So the ridiculously trendy indie-kid hipster shop Bang-On has arrived in my local mall. I finally went into it to find out what the fuss is about. They had these shelves of bags shaped as music paraphernalia. You've probably seen 'em- record bags that look like turntables. Handbags that look like transistor radios. And change purses that look like audio cassettes. ...CHANGE PURSES THAT LOOK LIKE AUDIO CASSETTES?

I resisted the urge to ask how much they were and went back to work. However, I do (on occasion) like to make fun of myself, and joked to a co-worker that I needed this change purse, since I am the only one I know (aside from my dad) who still listens to cassettes.

Later on, my coworker goes on a break, and when she returns she sort of excitedly bounces on in the store and says "Erin, I have a present for you!" and withdraws a shiny silver cassette change purse!!! Oh, I love her, I do.

But this brings me to this thing with tapes.

I drive a vehicle from 1996. Even at the time, car stereos were coming with CD players, but we must have gotten one of the last few models with a tape deck still in it. That was fine by me. Both my dad and I, who shared the car, were addicted to recording music off the radio, and in the mid-90's, of course tapes were the only way to do this. Before the advent of mp3s, my music compilations came in the form of poorly-edited tapes straight from CFOX, occasionally Rock 101, and other such radio stations. Sometimes, when we'd go on holiday I'd make tapes from my CD's and pretend to be a DJ, picking the best crowd-pleasers and the little-known tracks that were better than the singles. I still have all these tapes, and I still love them. They're amazing to listen to after some time. They instantly transport me back to a time when everything on the radio captivated me. Whether music was actually better in 1996, or it was just the magic of being 13 and newly discovering this giant world of music, I don't know.

I love those bits before and after songs, where you accidentally record the DJ... years later they prove to be more interesting than the music itself. I have a DJ announcing the lineup of Lolapalooza '94, the height of the grunge area, which was supposed to be headlined by Nirvana. I have the first announcement on Vancouver's main rock radio station, CFOX, that Kurt Cobain has shot himself. I also have the breaking news when Princess Diana was pronounced dead. Radiohead playing “The Bends” live at Glastonbury ’97. Going back to these tapes right now is such a pleasure and completely transports me. Some of the best things on my tapes are the independent acts that I recorded, bands that are now forgotten -- I always really liked Vancouver's "Fine Tooth Combine" (or perhaps they were from Victoria). I may never live this down, but I have Nickelback's "Fly" from when it was a demo and they were nobodies trying to get airtime in a radio station contest. Or even the male/female duo "Dick and Jane" who ended up winning that contest, or "Spud Gun" by the McCrackins and "Ticking" by Loud Lucy, songs I would have completely forgot about otherwise. And does anyone remember Vancouver’s Daytona? They had this grrrreat ditty called “Ciao.”

My car has a tape deck, yes, and I will gladly use it.

So one day earlier this year, I picked up my friend Chris. We're driving to whatever our destination was, and listening to one of my many many compilation tapes (because "shit on the radio" has earned its place as an overused cliché for a reason). And Chris just sits there in silence, until a couple minutes pass, and then he just bursts out:

"Like, I don't know why you insist that cassettes are SOOOO MUCH BETTER than anything else, because they're NOT, I mean the sound quality is SHIT but for SOME REASON all you MUSIC SNOBS have to be all MUSIC SNOBBY and think that cassettes are cool just 'cause they're like, OLD AND RETRO AND 'oooh look at me, I listen to CASSETTES, just because NO ONE ELSE DOES ANYMORE, that must make me SO COOL.' But they're NOT. I mean they sound like shit, the sound quality is just so much more shitty, i mean just get an Ipod already, holy shit!"

I continued to drive in a stunned silence.
Chris and I have been such close friends for so long that we can say these things to each other comfortably with little to no consequence. However, what the HECK was he on about? I'm hoping that after reading my explanation for why I use tapes, you understand my loss for words. After a minute or two, I finally respond:

"Chris, my car has a tape deck.” silence “I agree, cassettes have poor audio quality. I really hope you don’t think I am listening to these just to make some fashion statement. You’ve seen me consistently listen to tapes since grade 8. Who else actually listens to tapes? ....my car just has a tape deck."

I don’t really remember how the rest of that conversation went but I never did let Chris live it down.

But ever since then, I have felt the need to be slightly protective of my little precious tapes. How dare someone insult them so. I know they’re not of high sound quality. But neither are the old vinyls that crackle and pop and sound so wonderful because of it. So, I ask you readers. Are there others out there that listen to cassettes? You know I love ‘em. Do you?

Stay tuned for Part II, where I will tackle the heated debate: Cassettes vs Ipods!

(I think Ipods are winning.)

Love and mixed tapes, Erin xx

Music Dreams and MOGs...

ErinHanson — Wed, 09 May 2007 04:06:49 GMT

So I had this ridiculous dream the other night that I will describe to get me back into MOG mode...now that the exams and essays are over for another summer...

This dream is so ridiculous, it made me quite cheerful due to its sheer randomness. I can't say I've ever dreamt of Gomez before...

So I'm walking through Arthur's Seat, in Edinburgh, Scotland. I'm coming down through that little valley between the Seat and the Crags, heading straight for home, when who is in my path but Gomez. The band. All of 'em. Or at least a few of them, enough to constitute a small crowd. They're just muddling about as tourists do, trying to find their way back to the Royal Mile, commenting on the views and the lovely colours and the great Scottish countryside. They don't give a toss about me nor I about them until I realize I am holding my beloved 6-string acoustic in one hand. I chuckle to myself at the convenience and thank my dreaming subconscious for its quick thinking to make my dreams more interesting. (Seriously, I did this.) I start playing a few chords of a song I had been trying to figure out... Gomez pays no notice. "Hey, Tom!" I yell out to one of their members. "I finally figured out 'Country Gentleman.'" The guys are skeptical; they don't need another nutso fan trying to desperately play them their own songs on guitar. But it's not their own songs, it's Ambulance Ltd, and Tom looks content and I show him how to play "Country Gentlman." "Look, it's easy," i tell him as I show him how it's simply 2 frets up and 2 frets up again... Satisified with our new knowledge, contentedly we begin to go our seperate ways. "Oh, hey, Tom," I call after him before he disappears, "I like your mog!" He waves and I mosey on home from Arthur's Seat.

Thank goodness for pre-show music...

ErinHanson — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:33:44 GMT

I'm one of those keeners who shows up to gigs far earlier than necessary. I think it comes from starting to go to shows at the age of 12, when the Commodore Ballroom used to host all-ages gigs. Obviously no alcohol would be served, so only the most dedicated music fans would go. And since there was no beer to be milling around with, with constant trips to the bar (and the bathrooms!), all the kids would just head straight for the stage, take their place at the front, and sit. For hours, if need be.

To this day, at the age of 24 and after 5 very legal years, I still show up to gigs with that mentality. (It's a stressful situation, you see, particularly for a short person like me! Us shorties want a spot up front out of necessity.) So now, I really appreciate the fact that I don't have to rush the stage, and that I actually CAN sit with a drink and hang out and not elbow my way to stake out a good place 2 hours before the band goes onstage. But because I was so well-trained as a concert-going minor, I inevitably still show up really early, leaving me sitting there, hanging out, listening to the tunes they put on beforehand.

The pre-show soundtrack is a fascinating thing. I don't know how much control bands have over it. Although I imagine they can have quite a lot, if they so desire. For example, the Tea Party in 1995, just after the release of Edges of Twilight. As we were awaiting their entrance, we were listening to some beautiful sitar music-- quite atypical for a Commodore rock show. I believe that this is how I was introduced to the music of Ravi Shankar.

The music I have discovered from the pre-show soundtrack is perhaps few and far between, but pretty significant. There are many songs that I have heard while waiting for a band to come onstage, and I've turned to the person next to me and shout in their ear "WHO DOES THIS SONG?!" Classic case of hearing vaguely familiar songs which you realize you actually quite like. Sometimes you can come home and download whatever piqued your interested and realize you've just discovered a wonderful new artist.

So i thought, in my homage to the pre-show soundtracks, I'd list some of the music I've "discovered" in this way.

Pennywise - The song "searching" still vividly conjures up images of sitting on the bouncy Commodore floor in the mid-nineties. When I hear this song, I can still smell the pot smoke; a smell that, for a 12-year-old me, summed up the wonder of concerts and the mid-nineties rock scene.

doves - I was a fan of the doves but didn't quite realize how wonderful "The Last Broadcast" was until the Commodore repeatedly played "Words" and the entire crowd seemed to enter some bizarre blissful state.

LCD Soundsystem - not much to say except catchy as hell. Shit, this could lead into another blog entitled "DJ's- the new opening band?" We were perplexed as to why no opening band was coming on before Of Montreal, but we didn't really care because we couldn't stop dancing to the music the local house DJ was playing. ...Oh right, the DJ. Oops. We stupidly realized that HE was the opening band. I've never seen a crowd quite get pumped like that before. We were rocking out to oldschool cheesy 80's shit and then he put on LCD Soundsystem and the crowd went crazy. The DJ slightly faded out as Of Montreal took the stage and we didn't have to stop dancing all night. It was perfect.

Matt Costa - Now I'm a bit nervous about this guy, because he looks like a very beautiful Jack Johnson counterpart. I would say the adjective "dreamy" comes to mind except that may undermine my credibility. Before the Gomez show in February, Matt Costa's "Cold December" came on. That song title makes me think of dreary broken-hearted laments a la Counting Crows, but this song was so catchy, a friend and I furiously scribbled down whatever lyrics we could decipher onto the back of a bank statement. Came home, googled what disjointed lyrics I had written down, and ended up with this gem. There's more but my mind is blank and already this is of epic length. After several months of no posting, I hope this one isn't too anticlimactic. But let me just end on this note: I will be paying more attention to the pre-gig playlists because it's interesting to see what a venue (or the band?) will select to keep a room full of music snobs well-behaved. And you never know, there are some pretty sweet discoveries in there.

Where do concert shirts go when they die?!

ErinHanson — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 04:07:35 GMT

I'm serious. What do you do with your old concert tees?! The question is NOT rhetorical, by the way. I write this assuming that some of you are musos like me and not only buy concert t-shirts but LOVE them. Even when they don't fit, because nobody ever thought to make shirts in any size other than a men's XL until roughly 2001. I have a box of old concert shirts that are taking up too much space but I can't BEAR to part with them. Anyone who knew me in highschool will probably recall me as the girl drowning in her Tea Party t-shirt, or Our Lady Peace (fan for the first album alone, mind you!), even a White Zombie t-shirt.

In my treasure chest of concert tees I have everything else from Henry Rollins (spoken word) to Sloan to dEUS. I haven't bought a concert shirt in yonks just because I know I won't be able to part with it even when it's stretched out of shape and terribly unfashionable.

I can't get rid of my Soundgarden shirt, even though everyone mistook the logo as a swastika, simply because it says Soundgarden 1996 on the back and everyone KNOWS they broke up right after. I can't get rid of the Strokes because I bought that before they were famous (yes, such a time existed! It only spanned 2 weeks!) I can't get rid of the Tea Party "Edges of Twilight" shirt. The Tea Party was my first concert at the Commodore (yes, that's noteworthy), and I'm sure Robyn has even held onto a Rolling Stones shirt from my actual first concert ever, Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge.

I can't even get rid of my Sloan shirt, not because of Sloan, but because it travelled with me around Australia so it's kind of, you know, earned its place.

Looking through these is like going through a stack of my concert stubs AND a walk down memory lane.

What do you guys do with this shit? I want personal stories, please. Is parting with your concert shirts as painful as I anticipate?

Next week: throwing out old birthday cards!