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Showing posts with label vancouver blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vancouver blogs. Show all posts
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Concert Review: The Furios (Cadaver Dogs, et el) Feb 16, 2007
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By: Ashley HarderThe Anza Club
I arrived at the Anza CLub too early - My mistake as it was to be a long night. After spending an hour with relatives, I headed back to the club to view a four band lineup. Anyone who has been to the Anza Club (8th and Ontario) knows that it is a very small venue with not the best acoustic offering. I was willing to give a little with regards to sound, but the first two acts (I Braineater and the Heart breakers, and Tony Baloney and the Rubes) were awful. Sorry gang, but bad sound or not, the sets were indecipherable.My interest picked up with the Cadaver Dogs. They were definitely better, and the singer was a stand out based on voice alone, but they were not showcased well at this club. This is a band I would considering seeing a second time, albeit at a larger venue.
By 1:00 a.m. I was impatient, tired and annoyed with some of the crowd. The audience had been fairly listless up to this point save for a few diehard fans of the earlier acts. I was not in a generous mood for The Furios, which makes this review all the more interesting. When The Furios hit the stage, crowd apathy dissipated and you could feel the energy of the room pick up. With trumpet, saxophone and three guitars, the set was tight, fast and lengthy. Thirteen songs, a few encore tunes and no breaks. They finished at around 2:30. Quite an impressive set. Overall, I find ska/punk/reggae bands to sound the same; songs seem to blend into one another - none standing out. So here is a ‘first’ for me. I liked three songs, and remembered the song titles:Together as OneRiotWalking OnI also enjoyed Ghost Town - to which Christine asked, is that the Specials’ song? Hey - that’s way before my time, so I have no idea. I just know I really enjoyed the tune. As well, given my general dislike for ska/punk, the fact that any song stood out is impressive.Safe to say, The Furios blew everyone out of the water and are definitely an act to follow. I would suggest that lovers of ska/punk take in one of their gigs, and after visiting their site (see links) I gather they are a ‘live’ act to follow, so I am sure they have had similar accolades.Well done Furios - we thought your late start may have doomed the set, but that was not to be.BTW - Happy birthday Stefan (new guitarist).
http://www.myspace.com/thefurios
http://www.thefurios.com/
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By: Ashley HarderThe Anza Club
I arrived at the Anza CLub too early - My mistake as it was to be a long night. After spending an hour with relatives, I headed back to the club to view a four band lineup. Anyone who has been to the Anza Club (8th and Ontario) knows that it is a very small venue with not the best acoustic offering. I was willing to give a little with regards to sound, but the first two acts (I Braineater and the Heart breakers, and Tony Baloney and the Rubes) were awful. Sorry gang, but bad sound or not, the sets were indecipherable.My interest picked up with the Cadaver Dogs. They were definitely better, and the singer was a stand out based on voice alone, but they were not showcased well at this club. This is a band I would considering seeing a second time, albeit at a larger venue.By 1:00 a.m. I was impatient, tired and annoyed with some of the crowd. The audience had been fairly listless up to this point save for a few diehard fans of the earlier acts. I was not in a generous mood for The Furios, which makes this review all the more interesting. When The Furios hit the stage, crowd apathy dissipated and you could feel the energy of the room pick up. With trumpet, saxophone and three guitars, the set was tight, fast and lengthy. Thirteen songs, a few encore tunes and no breaks. They finished at around 2:30. Quite an impressive set. Overall, I find ska/punk/reggae bands to sound the same; songs seem to blend into one another - none standing out. So here is a ‘first’ for me. I liked three songs, and remembered the song titles:Together as OneRiotWalking OnI also enjoyed Ghost Town - to which Christine asked, is that the Specials’ song? Hey - that’s way before my time, so I have no idea. I just know I really enjoyed the tune. As well, given my general dislike for ska/punk, the fact that any song stood out is impressive.Safe to say, The Furios blew everyone out of the water and are definitely an act to follow. I would suggest that lovers of ska/punk take in one of their gigs, and after visiting their site (see links) I gather they are a ‘live’ act to follow, so I am sure they have had similar accolades.Well done Furios - we thought your late start may have doomed the set, but that was not to be.BTW - Happy birthday Stefan (new guitarist).http://www.myspace.com/thefurios
http://www.thefurios.com/
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Five or Six Songs That Affected my Life by: Terry Lowe
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The first real rock’n’roll song I ever heard was ‘No Time Left For You’ by the Guess Who, probably around 1965, on the car radio. I loved that electric guitar sound (provided by Randy Bachman), and wanted more. “No, leave it ON...” I pleaded when my Dad changed the station. He didn’t, so I got my own Westinghouse transistor radio from somewhere, and stashed it beneath my pillow at night, when I could pick up stations from exotic windswept places like Minneapolis or Chicago. I can remember far enough back when Elvis was still on the Hit Parade, hey now.* Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf. First record I ever bought, back in ye olde days of 12" vinyl LPs. I was just a kid, and this was the first rock’n’roll record ever in our house. It was not met with much parental approval.* Stuck Inside of Mobile (With the Memphis Blues Again) - Bob Dylan. Still just a kid, and wondering, “What on earth is he talking about? And why do I LIKE this weird shit so much? Who IS this guy? What is going on here?” Those are all good questions for youngsters isolated in small towns to ask.* School’s Out - Alice Cooper. An immortal anthem for the immortal snotty adolescent in all of us. Those opening guitar licks that sound like a fire alarm still send thrills and chills down my spine. Ah, fleeting youth. That feeling was briefly regained the first time I heard London Calling by the Clash, but that was years later and The Clash were not at all snotty. I think Alice was the first punk. I digress...
* Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed. So sultry with the double bass guitars and the saxophone at the end. I was still a naive adolescent living in a small town in the middle of nowhere, and the decadence in that song seemed SO attractive.At the time, I’d never heard of Eric Burdon and the Animals. I didn’t know We Gotta Get Outta This Place (didn’t have a girl, either). Had I, that would have been our theme song. My loss at the time, but I was delighted to see that song resurface decades later, covered by DOA and Jello Biafra. I digress again, oh my.* Peaches en Regalia - Frank Zappa (first track on the 1969 ‘Hot Rats’ album; I was a latecomer). Opened up a whole new world, that of instrumental music that could be both cool and interesting at the same time. I owe FZ a lot for that: it led directly to Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis and Charles Mingus, and an understanding of what sultry and cool really sounds like.* Key To The Highway - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, on some old Vanguard blues anthology. Opened up another whole new world: How can two old guys (one playing harmonica and the other playing a six-string acoustic guitar) sound so good? “Time to get outta here and find out,” I thought, and did.Despite all those wild youthful rock’n’roll influences, I turned out to be not wild, nor decadent, but instead rather quiet and thoughtful. Being young is usually difficult; I certainly wouldn’t want to do it again. Music helps, and that which helps most is what you remember the longest and most fondly (yes, even Alice Cooper).
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The first real rock’n’roll song I ever heard was ‘No Time Left For You’ by the Guess Who, probably around 1965, on the car radio. I loved that electric guitar sound (provided by Randy Bachman), and wanted more. “No, leave it ON...” I pleaded when my Dad changed the station. He didn’t, so I got my own Westinghouse transistor radio from somewhere, and stashed it beneath my pillow at night, when I could pick up stations from exotic windswept places like Minneapolis or Chicago. I can remember far enough back when Elvis was still on the Hit Parade, hey now.* Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf. First record I ever bought, back in ye olde days of 12" vinyl LPs. I was just a kid, and this was the first rock’n’roll record ever in our house. It was not met with much parental approval.* Stuck Inside of Mobile (With the Memphis Blues Again) - Bob Dylan. Still just a kid, and wondering, “What on earth is he talking about? And why do I LIKE this weird shit so much? Who IS this guy? What is going on here?” Those are all good questions for youngsters isolated in small towns to ask.* School’s Out - Alice Cooper. An immortal anthem for the immortal snotty adolescent in all of us. Those opening guitar licks that sound like a fire alarm still send thrills and chills down my spine. Ah, fleeting youth. That feeling was briefly regained the first time I heard London Calling by the Clash, but that was years later and The Clash were not at all snotty. I think Alice was the first punk. I digress...* Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed. So sultry with the double bass guitars and the saxophone at the end. I was still a naive adolescent living in a small town in the middle of nowhere, and the decadence in that song seemed SO attractive.At the time, I’d never heard of Eric Burdon and the Animals. I didn’t know We Gotta Get Outta This Place (didn’t have a girl, either). Had I, that would have been our theme song. My loss at the time, but I was delighted to see that song resurface decades later, covered by DOA and Jello Biafra. I digress again, oh my.* Peaches en Regalia - Frank Zappa (first track on the 1969 ‘Hot Rats’ album; I was a latecomer). Opened up a whole new world, that of instrumental music that could be both cool and interesting at the same time. I owe FZ a lot for that: it led directly to Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis and Charles Mingus, and an understanding of what sultry and cool really sounds like.* Key To The Highway - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, on some old Vanguard blues anthology. Opened up another whole new world: How can two old guys (one playing harmonica and the other playing a six-string acoustic guitar) sound so good? “Time to get outta here and find out,” I thought, and did.Despite all those wild youthful rock’n’roll influences, I turned out to be not wild, nor decadent, but instead rather quiet and thoughtful. Being young is usually difficult; I certainly wouldn’t want to do it again. Music helps, and that which helps most is what you remember the longest and most fondly (yes, even Alice Cooper).
Friday, August 12, 2005
“Why White Kids Love Hip Hop” Submitted by Lezah
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image from http://www.see.umd.edu
Bakari Kitwana knows his hip-hop. He is the hip-hop consultant for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland; wrote the definitive books on hip-hop, “The Rap on Gangsta Rap” and “The Hip-Hop Generation”; was the executive editor of The Source; lectures at universities around the country on both black culture and hip-hop; and recently wrote a book that looks at the absorption of hip-hop into mainstream culture, “Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wanksters, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America”.
Kitwana claims that hip-hop is responsible for white youth “processing race differently”, which as a result is affecting a certain amount of social change, similar to what happened during both abolition and the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Kitwana was initially inspired to look further into his book’s concept as a result of a quote from Northeastern University’s Professor Murray Foreman, who stated in his book “The Hood Comes First” that “the real test of white kids in hip-hop is what happens when the white kids growing up on hip-hop become police in black communities.”
Kitwana has been on a book tour this summer, and spoke at the University Book Store in Seattle last month.
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image from http://www.see.umd.edu
Bakari Kitwana knows his hip-hop. He is the hip-hop consultant for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland; wrote the definitive books on hip-hop, “The Rap on Gangsta Rap” and “The Hip-Hop Generation”; was the executive editor of The Source; lectures at universities around the country on both black culture and hip-hop; and recently wrote a book that looks at the absorption of hip-hop into mainstream culture, “Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wanksters, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America”.
Kitwana claims that hip-hop is responsible for white youth “processing race differently”, which as a result is affecting a certain amount of social change, similar to what happened during both abolition and the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Kitwana was initially inspired to look further into his book’s concept as a result of a quote from Northeastern University’s Professor Murray Foreman, who stated in his book “The Hood Comes First” that “the real test of white kids in hip-hop is what happens when the white kids growing up on hip-hop become police in black communities.”
Kitwana has been on a book tour this summer, and spoke at the University Book Store in Seattle last month.
Artist Trading Cards Submitted by Lezah
image from www.countryarts.org
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On August 10th I was at the White Rock Community Arts Council Gallery to see Karen Kroeker’s collage art exhibit ‘A Wandering Mind’ (see Swanktrendz July 25 article under Fine Arts). It turns out that opening night was wildly successful for the artist - 19 of her pieces sold, setting a record for the gallery, and since then three additional works have sold. The artist is off to Holland tomorrow to view and select some art for her personal collection, but the exhibit will run until the end of the month.
While at the gallery, I chanced to talk to another artist who was telling me about another, fairly new, and hugely popular, art form: Artist Trading Cards, or ATC.
ATC are small hockey or baseball-like trading cards showing original work by the artist who created the card. There are a few simple rules for ATCS:
- ATCs must not be sold, but only traded
- ATCs MUST strictly adhere to this size: 64 x 89 mm(2.5” x 3.5”)
- On the front must be the image
- On the back must be the following information:
Artist’s name
Contact information
Title of work
Number of work
- the card must be sturdy and of a reasonable thickness
- varnish, wax, or a plastic sleeve is recommended to protect the work
Unique pieces are referred to as originals; numbered sets of the same piece are referred to as editions; sets of different works are called series.
ATC is the brainchild of Swiss performance artist Vanci Stirnemann, who came to Canada in 1988 for the Olympic Arts Festival. While in Canada, he observed hockey-crazy adults trading hockey playing cards. Unused to adults trading cards (as this is a pastime that only children indulge in in Europe), Stirnemann brought the idea back home to Switzerland with him, but it was not until 1997 that he held an ATC exhibit in Zurich. Stirnemann’s ATC exhibit was a success, and since then ATCs have become extremely popular around the world.
ATCs can be traded in person, by mail, or contacts can be made over the internet. It is a unique form of art: it rejects the critiquing, pricing, and selling of art.
This coming Monday evening (August 22) at Ethical Addictions Coffee House in Langley City (at the junction of Fraser and Glover), there is an ATC exhibit and trade happening.
Swank Home
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On August 10th I was at the White Rock Community Arts Council Gallery to see Karen Kroeker’s collage art exhibit ‘A Wandering Mind’ (see Swanktrendz July 25 article under Fine Arts). It turns out that opening night was wildly successful for the artist - 19 of her pieces sold, setting a record for the gallery, and since then three additional works have sold. The artist is off to Holland tomorrow to view and select some art for her personal collection, but the exhibit will run until the end of the month.
While at the gallery, I chanced to talk to another artist who was telling me about another, fairly new, and hugely popular, art form: Artist Trading Cards, or ATC.
ATC are small hockey or baseball-like trading cards showing original work by the artist who created the card. There are a few simple rules for ATCS:
- ATCs must not be sold, but only traded
- ATCs MUST strictly adhere to this size: 64 x 89 mm(2.5” x 3.5”)
- On the front must be the image
- On the back must be the following information:
Artist’s name
Contact information
Title of work
Number of work
- the card must be sturdy and of a reasonable thickness
- varnish, wax, or a plastic sleeve is recommended to protect the work
Unique pieces are referred to as originals; numbered sets of the same piece are referred to as editions; sets of different works are called series.
ATC is the brainchild of Swiss performance artist Vanci Stirnemann, who came to Canada in 1988 for the Olympic Arts Festival. While in Canada, he observed hockey-crazy adults trading hockey playing cards. Unused to adults trading cards (as this is a pastime that only children indulge in in Europe), Stirnemann brought the idea back home to Switzerland with him, but it was not until 1997 that he held an ATC exhibit in Zurich. Stirnemann’s ATC exhibit was a success, and since then ATCs have become extremely popular around the world.
ATCs can be traded in person, by mail, or contacts can be made over the internet. It is a unique form of art: it rejects the critiquing, pricing, and selling of art.
This coming Monday evening (August 22) at Ethical Addictions Coffee House in Langley City (at the junction of Fraser and Glover), there is an ATC exhibit and trade happening.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Swank Concert Goers Take Note: Submitted by Christine Albrecht
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Whilst at a concert last night, we came across this beauty (Ariana) and I asked if I could photograph her 'swank' outfit and she said sure.
Take note people - putting clothing items together should look like they belong together, be it funky, punk, classic, elegant, fun, etc. Never overdo the accessories when the clothing makes a statement - note our swank beauty is not overdone with jewelry. Here’s a gal ‘in the know’ about what is swank!
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Whilst at a concert last night, we came across this beauty (Ariana) and I asked if I could photograph her 'swank' outfit and she said sure.
Take note people - putting clothing items together should look like they belong together, be it funky, punk, classic, elegant, fun, etc. Never overdo the accessories when the clothing makes a statement - note our swank beauty is not overdone with jewelry. Here’s a gal ‘in the know’ about what is swank!
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