Aethine

t.minus 2000: Oh No! Yoko

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:49:44 -0500

t.minus 2000: Oh No! Yoko:

Oh No! Yoko is Nic Denis, Liam Hamilton and Everett Morris; a modern-day power trio of high school kids who write and play extraordinarily mature indie pop. Coming from BC’s lower mainland (specifically, Abbortsford) Oh No! Yoko has only been around for four years and, apparently, they’ve been…

listening to "Serge Gainsbourg - Ballade de Melody Nelson"

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:44:44 -0500

listening to "Serge Gainsbourg - Ballade de Melody Nelson":

early morning serge

listening to "Beck - Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes) [8bit Remix]"

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:06:10 -0500

listening to "Beck - Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes) [8bit Remix]":

‘i’m turning it on, i’m working my legs’

Transference: Album In Review

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:00:00 -0500

t-2000:

Album In Review

By Colin Macleod

Transference (Merge) - Spoon

Success in rock is a lot like baseball. That is not to say that Joe DiMaggio has much in common with Mick Jagger. Both performances require the ability to enter the zone and perform, and all enduring music seems to pull you into a place that is at once familiar and exciting. Upon listening to Transference, it is immediately apparent that you have returned to the realm of ‘the Spoon sound’. The tracks are carried alternatively by wavering synth and the minor key stomp that has become their trademark. The group’s seventh album presents a refined meditation on the themes and mood that have occupied the rest of their catalogue. Notice the refined swagger of “The Mystery Zone”, the grand stomp-and-stab of “Written In Reverse”, or the descending blues of “I Saw The Light”. These familiar forms are the product of a band that continues to become tighter, sonically complex, and more proficient in the studio arts. Transference isn’t a rehash but a confident assertion of purpose: one that has served Spoon well to this point.

Minimalism

Unlike many great songwriters, Spoon have been revered as much for what is absent on their tracks as for what they left on. Here, the masters of modern pop-rock minimalism seem more interested in laying up backgrounds of sound. The stark silence that haunts many of their previous tracks is replaced by airy, wavering instrumentation that shifts and cuts abruptly, creating the dynamic range so essential to a group working with simple song structures. Looped lyrics fly off Daniel’s voice during the chorus of “Is Love Forever?” and the multi-tracked, flanged vocals on “Who Makes Your Money” make the track one of the most beautiful the band has recorded to date.

Still Dancing

Although Transference doesn’t offer many surprises, you will still find yourself, unexpectedly, nodding along. This music does what rock should: it’s cool, catchy, and emotional. Complex song structures seem extraneous given the top-notch production and Daniel’s brilliant, plaintive vocal delivery. Still, one may be left wanting more, even upon repeated listens, than subtle studio whirs and an arresting wail. Of these eleven tracks, a handful stand out as ‘quality’ Spoon work. The previously available “Written In Reverse” is a strong, passionate denial that succeeds despite boring lyrics. “Who Makes Your Money” has a gorgeous, insulated ambience that recalls Thom Yorke “Atoms for Peace” with a giant, plodding bass line, warm, swelling synths and a shuffle of percussion. Despite a promising start, “The Mystery Zone” doesn’t go anywhere for five minutes and is weighed down by ill-advised synth strings in the chorus. The more straight forward “Got Nuffin” and “Is Love Forever?” are both decent showings in the ‘regular rock’ category. The other songs are all serviceable, if forgettable, in the canon. The only true embarrassment is “Goodnight Laura”, a coy, pedantic Beatles pastiche of a ballad which faintly recalls the much earlier, much better “Advance Cassette”, and clocks in at a merciful 2:28.

Given their trajectory following 2007’s stellar Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, one can’t help but feel let down by this release. No doubt, Spoon will continue to succeed with a well established live presence and increased coverage following each album. The slow, hard-won progress to this rank in rock assures them at least a few more turns at bat before irrelevancy. Hopefully, they’ll take a chance, somewhere down the line, and knock another one out of the park.

_________________________________________

Colin Macleod is a renaissance man living in Toronto, where he attends the University of Toronto for Literary Studies. He is a regular contributor to Urbane Magazine http://urbanemagazine.org/ and maintains a personal Tumblr account which may be found at http://aethine.com/.

listening to "Beck- Today Has Been A Fucked Up Day"

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:01:56 -0500

listening to "Beck- Today Has Been A Fucked Up Day"

benton harbour blues (originally recorded by the Fiery Furnaces)

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:39:00 -0500

benton harbour blues (originally recorded by the Fiery Furnaces)

sunday morning. vu cover

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:37:28 -0500

sunday morning. vu cover

The Pursuit Aesthetic

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:43:00 -0500

The Pursuit Aesthetic:

cool photo blog. lots of glasses, jackets and tits

werking on an album. here is a sampler

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:28:09 -0500

werking on an album. here is a sampler

The Munk Debates on Climate Change

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:30:49 -0500

The Munk Debates on Climate Change:

urbanemagazine:

Tonight, at the Royal Conservatory on Bloor Street [edit: in previous years, it’s been at the ROM], the Munk Debates return for another go; this time, they’re tackling Climate Change.

As usual, they promise to be a high-caliber, well-argued and well-organized event.

You can watch the debates online in a live stream by clicking the link above; it starts at 7:00PM tonight (December 1).

Enjoy!

Scotch: How Classy Chaps Get Plastered

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:52:03 -0500

urbanemagazine:

A CRASH COURSE IN SCOTCH

Photo & article by MATTHEW GRAY for urbanemagazine.org

One of my favourite drinks has always been scotch. Amidst comments by friends of being a “sixty-year old man”, due to my choice of drink, I have grown quite fond of the stuff. It’s often called an ‘acquired taste’, due to the high alcohol content, and the very distinctive woody flavours. The right scotch is similar to an amazing cup of coffee, bar of dark chocolate, or bottle of red wine. It’s a drink that has a distinctive set of flavours, rather than just one.

The other day, I picked up a bottle of The Balvenie 12-year old single malt scotch. For all you non-scotch drinkers out there, here’s a breakdown of what that means;

The age of a scotch refers to how long its sat in a barrel or cask maturing, and gaining the flavours of the wood. In this case, it was aged in two different kinds of cask; one sherry oak, and one traditional oak. This matters because it affects the flavour of the whisky. In this case, it’s smooth and well-rounded.

Single malt means that it comes from just one distillery, rather than being a blend of whiskies.

Scotch refers to whiskey that is distilled in Scotland, rather than ‘whiskey’, which can come from the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. Scotch meets a certain set of stringent quality criteria, and is often regarded by snobs and aficionados as being somewhat superior.

In any case, The Balvenie is a good ‘starter’ scotch; unlike a Glenfiddich, it is full bodied (it doesn’t just taste like rubbing alcohol), and is smooth. The big question is whether the $59.99 pricetag at the LCBO is justified. If you’re curious about exploring the world of scotch, the LCBO on Queen’s Quay has a tasting bar where you can explore various blends and malts for substantially less than the price in a bar.