Still from film

In first year university I found this picture in one of my film books that I required for a course...recently I stumbled upon it again on a blog....hasn't lost its potency. I think I even titled a mix tape after the film's title..can't recall the name...UPDATE: Was at MOMA today and saw this picture on the front cover of a book entitled: Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art by Alexandra Schwartz...amazing how I created the post last week and today I see the picture.....

Hello from NYC

A Darwin electro-opera

Swedish duo The Knife have always released fascinating pieces of music. Interesting to see “unconventional” composers invited into the opera genre…Rufus Wainwright now The Knife. 'We've never even been to an opera', this was the starting point for The Knife…..They created an opera inspired by Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. The UK premiere of their opera Tomorrow, In a Year was commissioned by Danish theatre company Hotel Pro Forma.

Review from Financial Times from The Barbican, London

See the trailer - Tomorrow, in a year - A Darwin electro-opera below:

Brilliant piece of music – Colouring of Pigeons - The Knife, in collaboration with Planningtorock a...

For our little guy

Benjamin Biolay — Padam

Great book cover....I will be reading this next

The Guardian wrote of the book:
"American Psycho meets The X Factor (i.e. Canadian Idol) in an orgy of mad, gleeful nastiness. A sustained spew of gothic nonsense, blackly lampooning the stupid, hypocritical world of the music industry, it'll probably make you go deaf, but you'll be having too much fun to care."

The xx - Stars (LAZRtag Remix)

The xx - Stars (LAZRtag Remix)

River Phoenix - His Final Hours

Beautiful unreleased version of this song

Morrissey Sweetie pie ( rare and unreleased)

Photos of 'unusual' street installations

Bar tab

Iron Maiden partied at a bar in Norway the other night and their $3,275 bar tab receipt has made its way onto the internet. What is a slippery nipple....?

Excess all areas: A life in rock'n'roll

The Independent, published several exclusive extracts from Steven Machat's book, he is a showbiz lawyer and has great stories. His father managed Leonard Cohen, Machat is responsible for getting the re-release of the Bird on the Wire documentary.

This is his stage

Had a chat with a TTC busker one day on the subway, we were both on our way to work...his stage a little different then mine....his stage has an audience of 1.5 million riders a day. They really are inescapable free gigs that add an element of cultural flavour to an otherwise dreary experience....

He told me they can do fairly well if they work long hours...need to audition for the gig, the turn out is huge for the much coveted yearly permit. Last August 193 musicians (or 175 acts) signed up to audition for one of the 74 coveted licenses. A three-judge panel assessed each musician during a seven-minute audition performance. August 20-August 22 are this year's auditions.

Can't stop watching / listening to this:

Click here

Twenty years ago (!#@@!#), Depeche Mode set out on their World Violation tour. Never caught the band on this tour as it was in support of their insanely giant album Violator....I had a real debate at the time - I attended my prom that night (sounds like a John Huges film), no regrets they played Exhibtion staidum, it rained that night. To celebrate, the band's official site is featuring video clips for all tracks performed. Everything is raw and unmixed, and apparently taken from a video tape that was found in the band's office back in 2002. If you're a fan, then I don't have to tell you how much this particular tour is coveted within the Depeche Mode universe. Feast your eyes and ears here. World Full Of Nothing and I Want You Now, both acoustic, classic!

Mickey's smirk

Have a real soft spot for Mickey Rourke....hard not to like the guy now that he has resurrected his career / life....this smirk greeted me at Yonge & Bloor southbound subway platform one Monday morning....

"In the back of your car..."

Yes that is correct artsits perform in the back of a black cab....check out William Orbit and Final Fantasy

Classic Solo Years Morrissey shot by Renaud Monfourny

Leonard Cohen Bird On A Wire Trailer

Originally released in 1972 and directed by filmmaker Tony Palmer, Bird on a Wire follows Cohen on his 1972 European tour. After several edits it was re-released in 1974. Like many films from the era it was thought that the original print had been lost, but in 2009 more than 290 rolls of film in rusted cans were discovered containing much of the original rushes and soundtrack of the 1972 film.

Floating on the edge of the skyline

Centre Island 1963
"Burgeoning Toronto, Ontario's capital, thrusts a changing skyline above Lake Ontario. Nearly two million Canadians crowd the city's streets and push out into the suburbs. Escaping the heat, youngsters play offshore at Toronto's Center Island Park." —From "Canada's Dynamic Heartland: Ontario,"

- National Geographic magazine, July 1963, Photograph by Winfield Parks

National Geographic - Photo of the day August 17, 2010

August 17, 2010
Mahó Beach, St. Maarten
Photograph by Kent Miller
This Month in Photo of the Day: Photos From the 2009 International Photo Contest

On August 16, 2008 I married my best friend!! Happy Anniversary!

(STEREO SOUND) Woman wakes up to find intruder in her bed

Bed Intruder Song (iTunes Version)

Consequence by The Notwist - Cover version

I have always been intrigued by this cover...not so much the performance but how a relatively obscure band from Germany can connect with a kid from the U.S. and for him to create a cover version with a video...

Undercover

The A.V. Club's web series "Undercover" features bands covering classic songs, all of them selected from a list at the A.V. Club folks drew up. Check it out....first listen for me was Owen Pallett.

Tony Hawk with Brian Molko of Placebo...the little guy is Cody his son.

Paint A Vulgar Picture (Demo)

Every time I slip on my shoes I am amazed how an artist's life of creation can be extended well beyond their death....

Click here to shop for your own art foot wear.

Summertime Rolls - Janes Addiction cover version

Takes sometime to get "rollin" but it kicks....

Summertime Rolls cover version by Losers feat. Brian Molko

The song features very special guest Brian Molko from Placebo singing on Losers cover of Janes Addiction’s Summertime Rolls’.

You know the reason I really love the stars?

Because we cannot hurt them.

Laurie Anderson

Is this for real!

With the 2012 London Olympics drawing ever closer, Britain's national tourism agency wants to "guide" the nation on how to deal with international visitors. To that end, VistiBritain has provided a helpful list of foreign characteristics aimed at avoiding offense. They're all pretty great, but if I had to pick just five it would be these.

• "A smiling Japanese person is not necessarily happy."
  
• "Be careful how you pour wine for an Argentinian."
  
• "When meeting Mexicans it is best not to discuss poverty, illegal aliens, earthquakes or their 1845-6 war with America."
  
• "Despite stereotypes, Poles are not large consumers of alcohol and excessive drinking is frowned upon."
  
• "Canadians may take offence if labeled American. Some Canadians get so annoyed about being mistaken for US citizens they identify themselves by wearing a maple leaf as pin badge or as a symbol on their clothing."
  

You will, of course, have your own favourites. A wide variety of obscene gestures are also identified.

Beyond the concrete horizon

mixed media

Never saw this pick before David Johansen of the New York Dolls and David Bowie in the 1970's at the famous New York hangout Max’s Kansas City. Check out this article - click here

Dashan A Canadian - most famous foreigner

This documentary from the NFB introduces us to Mark Rowswell, a Canadian comedian virtually unknown in his own country who has an enormous following in mainland China, where he is known as Dashan. After 20 years in a multi-faceted career as Dashan, China's "most famous foreigner" is now considered a cultural ambassador and a prominent symbol of East-meets-West. I never heard of him......another great Canadian!The film provides a unique look at China through the eyes of a man who has become fully at home in Chinese culture—his appearances on national television have been known to draw up to 600 million viewers. It shows Rowswell performing, talking about his art and popularity, and discussing the West’s role in the development of the new China.

Arcade Fire "We Used to Wait" live at Madison Square Gardens directed by Terry Gilliam

Watch "We Used To Wait For" by Arcade Fire live at Madison Square Gardens directed by Terry Gilliam. The show was webcast live via YouTube. I would like to recommend that leader singer Win Butler get a wireless microphone for easier mobility... :) Watch clip you will know what I mean. Articles from:
Village Voice
National Post
New York Times

David Bowie - Queen Bitch on the Old Grey Whistle Test

XTC at the Manor (Part 1)

Have a listen

take me into your skin by trentemøller

Summertime: Splash pads & French Fries

What is he drinking?

Ever-quirky frontman Fred Schneider from theB-52s. Wonder what he is drinking......

BSS in performance - Choose your viewing angle

This is really cool....

Pitchfork.tv is proud to present their newest show: "POV". The performance series offers six different camera angles that viewers can pick and choose as they watch in real-time.

Broken Social Scene were taped doing three songs.

You can also watch all six streams at once, and switch angles by clicking one of the numbered thumbnails on the screen.

Go ahead and give "POV" a whirl at Pitchfork.tv.

Last ever Jonathan Ross show featuring Roxy Music

Sad to say last ever Jonathan Ross show featuring Roxy Music and performing Virginia Plain and Love is the Drug

Montreal composer Otto Joachim dies

A great Canadian....and I am just learning of his artistic contributions and fascinating life story. Interesting how he created the music for Expo 67.

Otto Joachim, a Montreal-based composer, teacher and musician who played first violin with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, died Friday. He was 99.

Joachim was an influential teacher of viola, violin and chamber music at the McGill Conservatory and at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.

He also founded the Montreal String Quartet, which played and recorded with Glenn Gould, and is noted for its recordings of the pianist's String Quartet and Brahms's Piano Quintet.
Joachim's own contemporary classical compositions were avant-garde and often involved experimentation with electroacoustic instrumentation, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music.

Fascinated with gadgetry and technologically adept, he operated an electronic studio where he created works such as Katimavik, a four-track tape commissioned by the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67.

Joachim used atonal techniques and incorporated elements of chance in his compositions, including Stimulus à Goad in 1973 and Uraufführung, for 13 instruments and live electroacoustic sound, in 1977.

His work was played by the Montreal, Toronto, Boston and Chicago symphonies and he continued composing well into the 1990s.

In 1994, he wrote Stecheldraht, for chamber orchestra and narrator, which deals with the killing of Jewish children in Second World War concentration camps. The stories were drawn from his own conversations with survivors.

His String Quartet, which premiered in 1997, incorporates sounds of Korea drawn from experiences he had in the country during a tour with the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, which he coached.

Born in Germany, Joachim fled Nazi-led Germany in the 1930s and spent 15 years in Singapore and Shanghai before arriving in Montreal in 1949. He was supposed to go on to Brazil, but had a one-month visa to stay in Canada.

He overstayed it, working in an electronics shop while waiting to join the Montreal Musicians' Guild.

He joined the MSO, and rose to prominence within the orchestra under the leadership of Zubin Mehta, who promoted him to first violin.

He also had an interest in early instruments, founding the Montreal Consort of Ancient Instruments, and in original instruments that he created himself

Joachim received the Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallée from La Société St-Jean-Baptiste in 1990 and was named to the order of Quebec in 1993. Concordia University has named both a composer's residency and a commission for electronic music after him.

Read more

In the fall great live shows

Two live concerts in the fall that I very excited to attend.

THE DRUMS
As mentioned before have one of the best debut albums of 2010.
Saturday, Oct 16, 2010 at the Mod Club

RECOIL,
The musical project of former Depeche Mode member, Alan Wilder, with ARCHITECT + CONJURE ONE
+ DJ KEVIN H
Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010 at The Opera House

John Cameron Mitchell (You remember Hedwig) brings his directed film "Rabbit Hole" to the Toronto International Film Festival.

Stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as a happily married couple whose perfect world is forever changed when their young son, Danny, is killed by a car.

The film is an adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer prize-winning Broadway drama. Also stars Diane Wiest. No release date yet...