"To Live By The Sea And Never Leave"

Music News, Local News, Indie News, Et Cetera....

Having grown bored with processing the photos I took at a show I attended on Friday night, I figured that I would take a break by visiting this here blog. No reviews or opinionated rants today, just a random whack of music related news that may or may not interest you depending on what type of stuff interests you these days:

I didn't participate in this weekend's Over The Top Festival, mainly because I found myself dealing with a tiredness that seemed to run dangerously close to the chronic fatigue variety. Hopefully, I will be able to have a share in, at least a little bit, of next weekend's Pitter Patter Fest, which is taking place at various venues in and out of the city. I've already talked a bit about it before, but I've recently come across another show that seems to be peaking my interest significantly.

Zygiella VIII is taking place at Rancho Relaxo on Friday night (May 29th). I love to support Zygiella, yet I'm an idiot since I've still never actually attended any of their showcases. The lineup this time around conisists of three bands that I'm not really all that familiar with, yet having sampled the music on their myspaces, I'm pretty sure that I'll have to set aside my previous Friday night plans and check this one out. The bands are Pick A Piper (pictured above), Huddle and Hut and if you like your shows eclectic, than this one is a must see.
[Above photo taken by K. Downey]

Dog Day are playing on Thursday night at Lee's Palace and my ticket giveaway contest is still running for another day or so. In the meantime however, you may wish to check them out when they play a free instore at Soundscapes on Wednesday May 27th at 6pm. [Myspace: Dog Day]

Fox Jaws are just about to embark on their East Coast tour but before they leave, they'll be playing a PWYC show at The Supermarket on Wednesday night. [Myspace: Fox Jaws]

The Vancouver Documentary Film Festival (DOXA) is taking place as we speak and will be continuing on all week but the reason that I'm tallking about it here is because they've got an interesting fundraiser taking place in connection with the fest. A number of disposable cameras were distibuted to different celebrities - the idea being that they would shoot them off and then auction them on eBay. Amongst the participants are Great Lake Swimmers, The Weakerthans, Jason Collett, Torquill Campbell, George Stroumboulopoulis and Narwuar the Human Serviette, as well as many many others. To see how you can get involved, check out all of the information here.

And I'm sorry to finish off on a sad note, but I just got word that former Wilco guitarist and songwriter Jay Bennett has passed away this weekend. He was a major contributor to the Wilco sound during, what I feel, was their best period of output. Very sad news indeed. He was 45.