Friday Fun! Let’s Go Out To The Lobby, Let’s Go Out To The Lobby, Let’s Go Out To The Lobby and Get Ourselves A Treat!

In honour of the weekend, check out Drive-Ins for a really cool site dedicated to the sadly disappearing phenomena of the local Drive In. I love going to see movies at the local googleplex but there is just something very rock and roll about seeing a movie at a drive in that you cannot deny. Cool but sad. Have a great Halloween and weekend everybody!
Later.

The Latest Issue of Perfect Sound Forever Is Out

The November/December issue of Perfect Sound Forever is out. A really excellent music e-zine that should not be missed. Check it out.
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Garage Rock in the Montreal Gazette

Just a quick heads up to check out the Saturday, November 1st issue of the Montreal Gazette for a feature on “Garage Rock.” There will be interviews with Little Steven, The High Dials, the head honcho from Rainbow Quartz records, Montreal band The Cains and the incomperable Mimi la Twisteuse! If you can’t pick up the paper try the link above to see if it’s online. Thanks Mimi!
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International Pop Overthrow East Coast

Just to remind everyone in the Baltimore region that the International Pop Overthrow East Coast started last night and then moves on to conquer the Philadelphia, New York and Boston regions until the 3rd week in November. This whole organization is very impressive and their shows and selection of bands looks top notch. My only question is: “When are you coming to Canada?”
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I’m Getting On This Jet

Ok, I’m officially jumping on the Jet bandwagon since I think these Aussies are great. Forget about all the “these guys are what real rock and roll is all about” and the “merely a rehash of Sticky Fingers era Stones” (or AC/DC or Oasis or whatever) comments and just buy this album. It is a fun rock and roll ride from beginning to end. Recommended.
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Is Radio Still Relevant?

Is radio still relevant? That’s the question posed by Who Needs Radio Anymore? over at MSNBC. I personally feel that if the whole object is to “create” the next Kelly Clarkson then I suppose radio is not relevant to me. On the other hand, as I have been documenting on The Rock and Roll Report there is plenty of cool radio out there that is certainly relevant to a lot of people. Granted we might only be a niche but with the technology today, somebody can broadcast nothing but polka music globally and they would probably find an audience willing to listen. Radio will never be as powerful as it was but then again, 10 years ago I couldn’t listen to a station like WFMU on my computer. I’ll take that over American Idol anyday.
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No Posts Today!

As today is my birthday I’m taking the day off. I’m overwhelmed by birthday wishes. Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher, Peter Buck and Gord Downie all seem to have misplaced my e-mail address and phone number but I know they must be thinking about me! Must be a technical problem at their end! I’ll be back on Friday.
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Radio Station of the Week: KEXP 90.3 FM Seattle, USA

I first heard about KEXP FM out of Seattle after reading Bland Band and I thought I’d give them a try and once again, another radio station, another breath of fresh air. Really great stuff particularly John in the Morning which, because I’m in Montreal I don’t listen to nearly as much as I’d like. Fun, eclectic radio. Not all rock ‘n roll mind you but widening your sonic palet shouldn’t be something to fear, especially when you rely on stations like KEXP. And if you’re a real techhead they feature all kinds of cool technology that makes listening over the ‘Net a pleasure. A real treat.
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Does Familiarity Breed Contempt?

On my way home tonight the local rock station was playing Shoot To Thrill by AC/DC and as I sang along I started to think of what I have heard people utter in the past about AC/DC’s lack of “musical progression” and “growth.” One would think that it is a given that banging out the same old shtick night after night must be boring in the extreme but is that necessarily so with all bands? Could it be possible that some bands like the fact that they play the same style of music and don’t want to change for the sake of change? AC/DC have made no bones about the fact that they are a simple, hard rock outfit, nothing more, nothing less. Anything more to them smacks of artificiality. As a fan, with some bands I want to hear something different every album (within reason to me) but I don’t go along with those people that crucify a band for a lack of “maturity.” To me, I don’t want a band like AC/DC to change. When I hear them I don’t want Radiohead or Peter Gabriel, I want Thunderstruck, or something that sounds kinda like it. Is that so wrong? Sometimes when you have to think too much about rock ‘n roll it’s magical effect is lost. Sometimes you have to be less of a critic and more of a fan. Sometimes you just have to listen and smile. It certainly is more fun.
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Record Label of the Week: Alive-Total Energy Records

The record label spotlight this week was inspired by listening to Little Steven last Sunday night. He played a tune by Big Midnight which I thought was quite cool and he mentioned that they are on Alive-Total Energy Records. Now I knew that label sounded familiar and then it dawned on me that they are affiliated with Bomp Records so I surfed over to their site and quickly downloaded 4 tracks from Boyskout, Hotwire Titans and The Holy Kiss in addition to Big Midnight which are all featured on The Sound of San Francisco, a compilation of cool bands from the Bay area. Alive has a lot of cool stuff to offer including The Black Keys and The Streetwalkin Cheetahs so I would hustle over to their site, download a couple of MP3s for an appetizer and then dig in and order a couple of records for the main course. It’s all high quality rock ‘n roll guaranteed to thrill!
Later.

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