Trying To Separate An Ocean From These Tears We Cried...

It's February, it's snowing like a madman and you've been very patient so let's back into this...

All of the official reviews and whatnots shall commence starting tomorrow, but today I just thought that I'd get all random and just talk about whatever I darn well feel like talking about. Musically speaking, of course.

First of all, looks like I won't be freezing my can off with The Weakerthans tomorrow after all. You see, when I got married 10 and a half years ago, my wife took on the job of remembering stuff and I took on the job of not. So she remembered that we have a family engagement this Saturday night and I, of course, did not. Family first, kids, which means the rest of y'all will have to tell me how the show went. I guarantee that I'll be catching them someday, but whatever.

Download Weakerthans songs:
Last Last One mp3 / Aside mp3 / Plea From A Cat Named Virtute mp3

Also, I made a promise to myself and others that I'll be toning down the concert goings this year (last year almost killed me,) but that doesn't mean that there aren't any good shows awaiting my future. This month I've got Dean and Britta at The Mod Club on February 9th. They're actually opening for Keren Ann, who sounds very reserved from what I know of her, which isn't much.

(UPDATE: Apparently, Dean & Britta and Keren Ann are doing a double headlining tour which means that they will take turns as headliners. This means that for the Toronto show, Keren is the opener and D&B takes the headlining slot. Suh-weet!!)

I've also got the magnificent Nicole Atkins on February 17th, who is going to blow your mind if you take this opportunity to see her. I can't wait. I'm hoping to catch Mr. Dan Bejar as Destroyer at Lee's Palace on April 19th. He'll be supporting his new CD 'Trouble In Dreams' which is out in March. And the most exciting news is the return of R.E.M. Now I truly hate the Molson Amphitheater with an intense passion, but check out this lineup: R.E.M. has The National and Modest Mouse opening for them. That's ridiculous. I'll have to wait on the price, but I may be willing to break into the piggy bank for that one. That show is on June 8th. The new CD is called 'Accelerate' and it's out on April 1st. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but from what I've heard it sounds like this has the potential to be the college rock comeback that I've been waiting for. Sweetness follows....

Download:
Destroyer - Foam Hands mp3
The National - Fake Empire mp3
Keren Ann - Lay Your Head Down mp3
Dean and Britta - Words You Used To Say mp3

Finally, I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend all of the TWM showcases to come, but even if I can catch one a month, that'd be wicked cool. And this month's first one sounds like a good place to start. The Schomberg Fair, The Stables and B.A Johnston. Mmm-hmmm. February 8th. There's more neat shows coming up, but gah, I'll talk about that another time.

Download:
The Schomberg Fair - John The Revelator mp3 / Some Things Never Change mp3
The Stables - Too Old To Skate mp3

My latest issue of Under The Radar has just arrived. I decided to subscribe since I pick up every issue anyways. Right now it's doing a whole half price thing and of course, you get the free CD too (mine was Prefuse 73's 'Preparations'. I'll let you know if it's any good.) The cover features a project that I'm mega excited about, going under the name She & Him. It's actually Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward and what I've heard sounds amazing. The CD is called 'Volume One' and it's out on March 18th on Merge.

Download:
M. Ward featuring Zooey Deschanel - When I Get To The Border mp3 (from The Go-Getter Soundtrack)

I think that'll do, donkey, that'll do. Enjoy the downloads and hopefully tomorrow I'll be throwing up some reviews on the artists that have been exciting me over the last few weeks.

Nicole Atkins Winners and other stuff...

Well, to start with, I'd like to thank everyone for entering the Nicole Atkins CD Giveaway contest. I did this as much to find out whether or not I have enough readers to constitute such a contest, as I did to introduce her music to others. The response was much better than I anticipated and I guarantee that I'll be doing some more in the future as the opportunity presents itself. Congratulations to Christopher Morris and Chris MacDonald. The CD's will be in the mail first thing Monday morning. To all the others who've entered, all may not be lost. I noticed today that the Hero Hill blog is hosting pretty much the exact same contest. I definitely recommend that you enter this one as well, because the CD is gold.

Speaking of Hero Hill, on December 31st, they posted a very interesting article on music blogs. It featured opinions on what a music bloggers' motivation should be, what they actually often are, and whether or not a music blog can be considered a viable form of music journalism. It's a very well written article and it certainly gave me personally a lot to think about. Ultimately, my reasons for blogging may be similar to others, but my motivation isn't exactly the same. I just really like music. It's as simple as that. I also like to talk too much. However, the desire to present my views in audio form (i.e. a podcast) just requires way more work than I'm interested in doing. So I blog, and I'm just having a good time. I don't take myself too seriously, nor do I have any desire to allow this blog to be anything more than an enjoyable hobby. Every single artist that I rave about is someone that I personally enjoy listening to, whether they're big time or a smaller local artist. There was a brief spell there where, admittedly, the idea of getting a free CD was muddying my judgment a little bit and I was probably being a little bit more complimentary of certain bands than I was really feeling. But that was in the early days and that's how you learn and I can assure my readers that these days, any artist I focus on is an artist that I truly believe in 100%. And there will be plenty more of that throughout the new year.

Also, I've been taking a bit of a break from the concerts over the last couple of weeks, but there are some more coming up in the near future. Here's a list of some of the ones that I may or may not be checking out in the weeks to come:

Sat Jan 12th - Fox Jaws and Bass Lions at El Mocambo (I've got some friends visiting that night so I likely won't make it, but dang it, you should!)
Wed Jan 9th - Nada Surf @ Sonic Boom Records (In-store performance)
Fri Jan 11th - TWM 8 featuring Mark Berube, qr5 and The Cheap Speakers @ Rancho Relaxo
Wed Jan 16 - Au Revoir Simone @ Lee's Palace
Tue Jan 22 - Peter Bjorn and John w/Young Galaxy @ The Phoenix (Got my tickets!)
Fri Feb 1 - The Weakerthans @ Sonic Boom Records (In-store appearance)
UPDATE: The Weakerthans Sonic Boom in store has been cancelled! Drag.
Sat Feb 2 - The Weakerthans @ Nathan Phillips Square (If it's not insanely cold)
Sat Feb 9 - Dean & Britta w/ Keren Ann @ The Mod Club (Got my tickets!)
Sun Feb 17 - Nicole Atkins and the Sea @ Lee's Palace (Got my tickets!)