Compact Discs

• Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record: incredible album; worthy of the Polaris Music Prize Short List [10]
• Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice: just like the BSS album above, although in a very different way, a great collection that belongs on the PSL [10]
• Great Lake Swimmers – Ongiara: since I spent so much time enjoying the latest disc from the GLS, I decided to go back and pick-up this one as well [8]
• Holy Fuck – Latin: personally, I don’t think it’s as strong as their previous release, but it’s still got some great songs [8]
• Ohbijou – Beacons: I believe that this album should have at least made the Polaris Long List this year, but it was released way back at the start of the eligibility period, so I’m hoping that it was just forgotten by the voting jurors [10]
• Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: a good album containing a few very good singles (1901, Lisztomania) [7]
• The National – High Violet: a really, really great album that, when you connect with it, digs right into your soul; a very worthy follow-up to the equally amazing Boxer [10]
• Wintersleep – New Inheritors: while The National followed up one great album with another, Wintersleep didn’t manage to do so. I am such a huge fan of Welcome to the Night Sky, but I just can’t get into this disc. I don’t know if it’s over produced or I just expected too much of it [5]

Zunior.com Downloads

• Chad vanGaalen – Soft Airplane: this guy took me a little time to connect with, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but if his style catches you, you’re in for a treat [8]
• Danny Michel – Feather, Fur & Fin: perhaps not a strong an album overall as the other Dan (Mangan), the stand-out tracks here are equally as good [7]

CBC Radio3 Give-aways

• The Acorn – No Ghost: I knew going into this album that it wouldn’t sound like Glory Hope Mountain, but I haven’t yet had enough time to get past that ‘expectation’ of mine to really enjoy it. But, even with that pre-conception, it’s a good album by this Ottawa-based band [7+]

Keep checking my Daytum account to see what else I acquire throughout the rest of the year. I’ll try to do a similar round-up in December of January to cover the rest of 2010. What else do I have on my radar? The new Arcade Fire, of course, and I still have yet to get a copy of the latest from Stars. There are also a few Polaris Long List artists/albums (e.g., Justin Rutledge, You Say Party!, Young Galaxy) or could-have-been PLL artists (e.g., Said the Whale) who I might pick-up.

You see, after six long years, the final book in the series, written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour is being released by Oni Press tomorrow!

If books, even graphic novels, have too many words for you, you can always wait until next month when the movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World comes out on August 13th. The movie was directed by the one-and-only Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and you can see the trailers for the movie in HD over at Apple.

I have read (and re-read) all five volumes that are out right now and enjoy them all. The movie adaptation looks perfect, although it should be pointed out that it (apparently) follows the first three volumes very closely, but goes off on it’s own for the final half of the story. That said, O’Malley was part of the film making process, so it has his blessing.

Check it out! We are Sex Bob-Omb! One! Two! Three! Four!

You see, this is what I don’t understand about the book industry right now: why do they feel the need to republish books, year after year, with new covers? It’s the same book… the same content… the same format… but new cover art! No musical artist (that I’m aware of) re-issues the same album with new cover art on such a regular basis; for an anniversary re-issue with new tracks, or some sort of money-grubbin’ special edition with a few b-sides and demo versions, sure, maybe… but then there is (technically) new content. And no, I don’t consider a new forward by some special guest or a few pages about this second publishing to be enough to warrant a new look to the whole work.

Now, that said, technical manuals or books I will give a certain amount of leeway. An excellent example of this is the wonderful and highly recommended Designing with Web Standards guide by web guru Jeffrey Zeldman. The latest, 3rd edition of this book comes with a blue cover. The 2nd edition was, if I’m not mistaken, a green cover. The original, 1st edition (which I own), came in an iconic orange cover. Easy to see the difference between editions, but the cover imagery is always the same. And here, while there might not be a great deal of difference from one edition to the next, these minor changes can be substantial in terms of the context (web development: the phasing out of some code, the introduction of new code, etc.). But, even in this example, despite the changes to the content, the cover art/design stays consistent… building a brand and a look that you can associate with.

Do books (fiction, non-fiction, etc., as opposed to technical books) change their art in an attempt to stir sales? The second book I picked up this past weekend was the iconic Beat Generation prose, On the Road by Jack Kerouac. It was the latest Penguin Modern Classics cover that grabbed me. The whole shelf was filled with these gorgeous covers of, well, modern classics. And, don’t get me wrong, Penguin continues to publish some of the most beautiful book sleeves out there, year after year… but this book, the story in this book, the words in this book, have not changed in over fifty years! In fact, I could have saved $3.50 and bought another copy of the same book with a different cover on it from the same store! But, I didn’t (because of an in-store promotion, the great deal I was getting on my other book and because I’m still using a gift card I got at Christmas and I always allow myself to splurge a little when using gift cards). So, did I get caught up in the cover? Is this why book publishers do this? Am I the perfect example of why they change the cover art year after year?

As I implied at the start of this post, I’m not the reader I once was. While On the Road is considered a classic by many, I’m not someone who has gone back and read all of the ‘great American novels’ of the past hundred years. Do people get upset by the new art given to novels? I know I’d be upset to pick-up a copy of an album like Dark Side of the Moon and find something, anything other than the iconic prism looking back at me. Do books have this same connection to their sleeves? Or are they just advertisements for the words inside?

The changing covers drive me crazy because, as a completist, I always worry that I’ll start reading a series this year and, by the time I finish it, I’ll have three different styles of cover art making up the collection. I don’t think this has ever stopped me from buying a book, but some part of me always considers it.

So, what do you think? Do you buy books because of their covers? Do the ever-changing sleeves on books make you wonder? Does it drive you crazy like it does me? Are there any books out there with covers so connected to the words inside that they are iconic (a’la the DSotM example above)?

I’d hoped to post this yesterday, but the day — just like the year — seemed to get away from me. So, just about 18 hours ‘late’, I present the annual “Best 75 Albums of the Year” list. As a special, but not surprising, bonus, I’ve also cobbled together a “Best Albums of 2000-2009″ list … I’ll leave the debate about when the ‘decade’ started to other forums of discussion.

• Best 75 Albums of 2009 — #1: Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
• Best 25 Albums from 2000-2009 — #1: Arcade Fire, Funeral

Regarding the ‘09 list: much like last year I haven’t heard all of the top-25 albums, so I have some work to do in 2010. Last year this resulted in many wonderful discoveries, so I’m looking forward to catching up on what I’d missed in 2009. I honestly don’t know what my personal ‘album of the year’ would be from 2009, but it’d likely be Canadian in origin. This really was the year that I found CBC Radio3 (and, to a lesser extent, Radio2). There were lots of great albums/songs that I first heard on the R3-30 Countdown and I’m still trying to track down some of them, such as Ohbijou’s album, Beacons, which I’ve just recently fallen in love with.

Regarding the ‘00-’09 list: I was more than a little surprised by some of the albums on this list… and even more surprised by the absence of some albums. I can sort of understand the lack of any albums from 2009 making the ‘best of the decade’ list, but where are some of the top albums from 2007 and 2008? Doesn’t anyone remember the Fleet Foxes disc? What about TV on the Radio’s third studio effort, Dear Science? And yet, Amy Winehouse, who ranked just 26th overall in 2007, lands at #6 for the past ten years? I’m sure that there are lots of reasons that some albums did or didn’t make it onto this list, and oddly, I’d put more value into a ‘best of the year’ list rather than a ‘best of the decade’ list — heck, I’d probably even put more value into a ‘best artist of the decade’ list (included below the ‘best album’ list, btw) — but these sorts of lists are what they are… snapshots of an era to be debated and cast aside by everyone and anyone with an opinion.

I’m very happy to see Ryan Adams’ album, Heartbreaker, included in the decade-long list; Arcade Fire’s inclusion in the artists portion is also well deserved I believe. However, I’m very sad to see the lack of Canadian talent on the 2009 list. I’d include a more Canadian source in the calculations, however, I can’t find one that isn’t so heavily CanCon balanced that it doesn’t throw off the whole process. Any suggestions? Any other publications/sources to consider for next year?

If you’ve got a moment, go have a look at the lists and let me know what you think (not that I have had any personal influence on these lists; it’s all quasi-scientific). Did you have a favourite album from the last twelve months? Past ten years? that is or isn’t included here?

As a long (long, long) time fan, having just watched Survivor: Samoa tonight, I can say with great certainty and enthusiasm that this season is awesome. If you haven’t watched the show in years, or maybe you’ve never watched it at all, catch-up on the last 3-4 weeks with your cable provider’s ‘video on demand’ feature (it’s free) and see what I mean. Or, according to the official website, next week will be the usual recap episode, so you can get the Coles’ Notes version of the season this way.

Sure, the challenges haven’t changed much in the past 19 seasons, but really… you’re not watching for that, it’s all about the people. This is the best ‘cast’ since I don’t know when. This is the first time in recent memory that I can really attribute personalities to the different players; a very diverse group. And, as the title suggests, the interesting cast has made for some very exciting Tribal Councils; you never know what’s going to happen.

A really solid, surprising season to be sure. Survivor hasn’t been must-see-tv for me in many years (I don’t even know if I watched the last 2-3 seasons at all, to be honest) but this is certainly my Thursday night event. It comes to the exciting finish on December 20th – mark your calendars!

My mom’s Flickr site grows and grows and grows. She is learning constantly, experimenting fearlessly and always out shooting with her Nikon. I wouldn’t dare try to pick out my fav photos that she’s posted, because they always seem to be trumped by whatever she next publishes… although the Geography Minor in me was super-impressed by her recent image, “Clouds”. That is how you use a wide-angle lens!

My sister’s personal blog, You Were Never Lovelier, is just awesome… and I’m not into fashion. Which isn’t to say that it’s all about fashion, because it isn’t, but she’s made a bit of a name for herself in the UK in certain circles and her work here shows you just how deserving this reputation is. And, I can’t not (double-negative!) compliment her on the photography… quite stunning!

My dad doesn’t have a website (or even an eMail account), but here’s an on-line “Hello!” to him all the same. He might not blog or tweet, but he’s super-handy with tools and has an impressive knowledge of, and love for, music.

Many thanks to you all — keep up the excellent work!

For the most part I think about golfing and constantly calculate;
all the seconds left in the minutes, and so on, etcetera;
Or recite the names of provinces and Hollywood actors;
Oh, Ontario! Oh, Jennifer Jason Leigh!

What the… this isn’t your standard coffee house fare. Why do I know this song… what is it?

It’s, it’s… it can’t be… yup: Civil Twilight by Guelph’s The Weakerthans! This is pretty cool! We sat, we talked, My Girlfriend and I had a nice evening out and every once in the while I’d exclaim at the choice of a song here or there — this is classic Our Lady Peace, that was a Bedouin Soundclash song, etc.

So, to whoever you were, player of ’standard coffee house fare’ as well as excellent local indie songs, thank-you for the soundtrack to our evening out.

First, the writers seem to have forgotten that this is an ensemble show — these four guys and one girl used to all hang out together for ‘Halo night’ or ‘Comic Book Store night’, but now it’s Leonard and Penny, sometimes Sheldon… and the other two. The Sheldon-Penny friendship had grown to the point where it very often stole the show, and they had one of these moments this week when Sheldon comes over to borrow some bread, but generally this season it’s been reduced to a few off-hand insults or side comments. As for Raj and Wolowitz, they’re starting to play-up the bromance they have just a little too much; it’s almost as if the writers didn’t see it happening until they made a point of it in the episode where Leonard’s mom comes to visit. My recommendation: put everyone back in the guy’s apartment, order some take-away and start the tape rolling.

As for the move to the late slot in the CBS Monday Night line-up, I can only assume it’s because of the overly sexual language and themes that have blatantly added to the show. Yes, yes… Penny and Leonard are dating now and a little sex-joke here or there is just fine, but remember these guys are geeks! Wolowitz usually manages to provide enough sexual energy and attitude for any episode; it shouldn’t be the central focus here. If I wanted to see that, I’d watch Two and a Half Men (which I do, right before BBT).

Quick aside: stunt-casting Wil Wheaton was a great idea. Too bad he was completely wasted as a throw-away character with a weak plot. If, as an old Trek fan you need your Wil-fix, go check out season three of The Guild.

Any how, I haven’t given up on the show yet. I have to hope that someone is going to steer it back to the absolute brilliance of the first two seasons. Make it a show that the whole family can watch, laugh at and enjoy.

Have you been watching this season? What do you think? How does it compare to previous seasons?

As for tonight’s show, the final four pairs put on a really good performance. My favourites — Sale & Simpson — put on a great pairs routine and did really well in the special group demonstration. While I think they’ll be safe tomorrow night, I think it’s sadly time for Hough-Sweeney & Domi to hang up the skates. They’ve been great this round, but they’re slowing slipping behind the competition.

If you haven’t checked out the show yet, I suggest you do before it’s over. The (Vancouver) 2010 Winter Olympics are coming up in just under 100 days now, so you can just consider it some fun practice for that (if you’re looking for an excuse). Enjoy!

My friend had already sent me, shortly after he’d arrived in the country, some Original Pilipino Music (OPM) which really impressed me, so I had to hear more. Sure, this is a chain store in an up-scale mall, but a sales chart is a sales chart and I was looking more for the ‘popular music’, not the ground-breaking indie stuff… combined with what I’d heard on MTV-Asia and what had been recommended to me since I’d arrived, I think I bought four CDs (should have probably bought more).

Among these purchases was the debut album from the band, Up dharma Down, Fragmented. It’s a wonderful collection of electronic rock? ambient dance? …I don’t know how to describe it really, except that it’s awesome. Some of the lyrics are sung in English, others in Tagalog, but with this style of music it doesn’t matter; the lead singer has a great voice to carry you along.

Of all the music I have from the Philippines, years later I still listen to these guys on a regular basis. Today at work, was another of those occasions… and, as I often do, I gave them a quick Google to see if they’d released anything since this album. And, they had! Finally! Hooray! So, tonight after everything had settled down, I looked around to see if I could get the album anywhere and, to my surprise, iTunes Canada had it! So, at this very moment, I’m enjoying new UdD music for the first time in years and so far it sounds like another great disc.

Of course, I can’t tell you how great a band from halfway around the globe is without pointing you at some of their stuff on-line. Below are a few music videos, posted by the band’s label, on YouTube. The videos are nothing too special (they are still, technically, an indie band), but you can still hear the songs:

• Maybe (from Fragmented, 2006)
• Oo (from Fragmented, 2006)
• Sana (from Bipolar, 2009)

This is great stuff to listen to while you work; it’s great for listening to late at night; it’s just great stuff. Congrats to the band for a solid follow-up effort. Enjoy!